Monday, September 25, 2000
Bad enough to get Coslet fired?
If it's not his fault, it's still his responsibility
ROCK BOTTOM, Md. — This is as bad as it gets. This is as low as it goes. This is the worst it's ever been for the Cincinnati Bengals, which is tantamount to the Titanic reaching a new low on the
ocean floor.
But is it quite awful enough?
Was Sunday's 37-0 romp by the Baltimore Ravens enough to budge owner Mike Brown from the same stale status quo? Will it mean head coach Bruce Coslet has finally run out of re prieves? Or does the National Football League's most feckless franchise need further proof of its futility before major changes are made?
The Bengals hit the trauma trifecta Sunday afternoon at PSINet Stadium, shut out for the second straight week, matching the most lopsided loss in franchise history, drubbed decisively by a team owned by Art Modell. Pre sumably, no possible outcome could be any more galling for Paul Brown's son.
Whether or when he'll do anything about it, however, is yet to be determined. When he finally rose from his seat Sunday, the Bengals owner found a cluster of reporters laying in wait. He forced a crinkly smile, took no questions and stated only the obvious.
“It was as thorough a beating as you could ever see from start to finish on offense and defense,” he said. “They dominated the game.”
Does that mean Coslet will still have his job this morning? Stay tuned.
Mike Brown has never been the type to telegraph his moves. Typically, when he
cans coaches, the end comes weeks, months or even years after his customers start screaming for blood. Brown refuses to be rushed to judgment by public opinion, media pressure or statistics on a scoreboard.
If he had given Dave Shula any more rope, Shula could have stretched it around the equator. If he gives Coslet another chance — or the rest of his contract — no one should be totally shocked.
Yet each new disaster creates a little more critical mass and a little less customer enthusiasm. As general manager of this inept enterprise, Brown bears a significant share of the blame. As owner, however, he is perfectly positioned to pass the buck. He need not prove that Coslet is primarily responsible for the team's problems, only that his leadership has led the team nowhere. Even Marcia Clark could have proven that much.
“We got beat pretty bad,” quarterback Akili Smith said Sunday. “We didn't move the ball on offense. I keep saying every week that we've got to do something. I don't know what it is, but I keep saying it every week.”
Through three games, the Bengals have scored seven points and allowed 74. They can't block. They can't tackle. Smith, the second-year quarterback, is still too raw. Corey Dillon, their Pro Bowl running back, has so little room to maneuver you'd think he were trying to parallel park.
Maybe none of this is Coslet's fault, but it is all his responsibility. Eventually, Mike Brown might make a change just to see if a different voice can bring victory.
The Bengals have twice changed coaches in mid-season in search of a different spark, most recently when Coslet replaced Shula in 1996. Both times the new coach was someone already on the staff who had head coaching experience. The only man who currently qualifies on both counts is Bengals linebackers coach Mark Duffner.
Duffner has walked into worse circumstances. He assumed command of Holy Cross football upon the 1986 suicide of head coach Rick Carter and somehow supervised 60 victories over the next six seasons. (He later coached at Maryland, with somewhat less distinction.)
Is he the answer? Maybe not. But from Rock Bottom, anywhere is up.
E-mail Tim Sullivan at tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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SULLIVAN: Bad enough to get Coslet fired?
