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Brian Billick
Date of birth	February 28, 1954 (1954-02-28) (age 55)
Place of birth	Fairborn, Ohio
Position(s)	Head coach
College	Brigham Young
NFL Draft	1977 / Round 11/ Pick 295
Regular season	80-64-0
Postseason	5-3
Career record	85-67-0
Super Bowl       wins	Super Bowl XXXV
Championships       won	2000 AFC Championship
Stats
Coaching stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1977 1977	San Francisco 49ers * Dallas Cowboys * *Offseason member only
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1978 1981-1985 1986-1988 1989-1991 1992-1998 1999-2007	Brigham Young (graduate assistant) San Diego State (tight ends coach) Utah State (offensive coordinator) Stanford (assistant head coach and tight ends coach) Minnesota Vikings (offensive coordinator) Baltimore Ravens (head coach)

Brian Harold Billick^[1] (born February 28, 1954) is a National Football League game analyst for Fox, and is also an analyst for the network's Bowl Championship Series coverage. He was previously an NFL coach, most recently with the Baltimore Ravens from January 19, 1999 to December 31, 2007. Billick led the Ravens to a 34–7 victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, the franchise's only Super Bowl appearance.

Biography

Playing career

Billick, who played football and basketball at Redlands High School in Redlands, California, had his No. 17 jersey retired by the school in March 2001.^[2] He played both quarterback and cornerback in high school and holds the state record with 21 career interceptions.

After spending his freshman season as a linebacker at the United States Air Force Academy,^[3] Billick transferred to Brigham Young University ^[4] and became a tight end. He later told friends that he left the Air Force Academy because he learned, after he'd already enrolled, that his height and size (6-foot-4, 230 lb.) precluded him from ever becoming a fighter pilot. He received All-Western Athletic Conference and honorable mention All-America honours in 1976.

Billick was selected in the 11th round of the 1977 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers but was cut by the 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, and never played in the NFL.

Coaching career

College

In 1977, after being cut by the San Francisco 49ers, Billick returned to his hometown of Redlands, Calif., and served as a volunteer wide receivers coach for the University of Redlands football team (NAIA), under coach Frank Serrao. That season, he also split time as an assistant coach at Redlands High School. Billick said he coached the high school team's practice from two to four o'clock, then head over to the university for the college practice.^[5]

Billick worked as a graduate assistant at Brigham Young for one season (1978) before joining the 49ers as the assistant director of public relations for two years (1979–1980).

He returned to coaching with San Diego State University, serving as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for five seasons (1981–1985). After being named the offensive coordinator of Utah State University, Billick improved the second-worst offense in Division I-A into a top-ten offense in only three seasons (1986–1988).

Billick was then hired as the assistant head coach and tight ends coach at Stanford by Dennis Green, serving both roles for three seasons (1989–91).

National Football League

Assistant Coach

The Vikings made the playoffs during six of the seven seasons (1992–1998) that Billick spent with the team, and set several offensive records in the process. In 1998, Minnesota set a then-NFL record for most points scored in a season (556) (which has since been broken by the 2007 Patriots), and set a team record with 41 touchdown passes. His work under Minnesota head coach Dennis Green put Billick in the Sid Gillman coaching tree.

Head Coach

Baltimore Ravens

Billick became the second coach in Ravens history on January 19, 1999, when he was hired to replace Ted Marchibroda. He had a 85–67 record in nine seasons (1999–2007) with the team, including 5–3 in the playoffs.

Although Billick had the opportunity to interview for the head coaching job of the reactivated Cleveland Browns and was rumored to be their top candidate, he chose to interview with the Ravens first.^[6] He signed with Baltimore in under 24 hours after his initial interview.

In his first season with the Ravens, Billick led the team to its first non-losing record (8–8) in the franchise's brief four-year history.

The next season, Baltimore finished with a 12–4 record and earned its first playoff berth. Prior to reaching the playoffs, Billick forbade his players from using either the term "playoffs" or the term "Super Bowl," with the idea of keeping them focused on winning each game instead of on their more distant prize. Billick felt this approach would help them reach that prize, and went so far as to fine Tony Siragusa for violating this rule. In response, the players borrowed the term "Festivus" from the television series Seinfeld for the playoffs, and the term Festivus Maximus for the Super Bowl. When they reached the playoffs, Billick lifted this ban. The Ravens took advantage of their vaunted defense, which allowed an NFL record-low 165 points in the regular season (for a point differential of 168; the Ravens also led the league in turnover differential at plus-23), during the playoffs to advance to and win Super Bowl XXXV.

Billick led the Ravens to a 10–6 record and a victory over the Miami Dolphins in a 2001 wild card playoff game before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round. Baltimore finished 7–9 and missed the playoffs in 2002, but bounced back in 2003 with a 10-6 record and the franchise's first division title; the key game of this season was a wild 44–41 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks in which the Ravens scored 20 unanswered points from the 10:14 mark of the fourth quarter through overtime; the win launched the then 5–5 Ravens into the division title. The Ravens lost to the Titans, 20–17, in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

The Ravens missed the playoffs in 2004 (9–7) and 2005 (6–10) before bouncing back in the 2006 season. Billick fired offensive coordinator Jim Fassel on October 17, 2006, assuming the role for the remainder of the season, as the Ravens earned a franchise best 13–3 record, won the AFC North and earned the first playoff bye in team history. Baltimore, however, lost to eventual Super Bowl champions, the Indianapolis Colts, 15–6, in the divisional round.

Dismissal from Ravens

On December 31, 2007, Billick was fired from his position as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.^[7][8] This came after a season in which the team went 5–11, including 1–5 in the division, and lost to the otherwise winless Miami Dolphins; another bitter loss came two weeks earlier, as the Ravens twice appeared to have stopped the then-unbeaten Patriots on fourth down but were thwarted, first by an ill-timed timeout call and a false-start penalty (which could not be declined by the Ravens) on New England which gave the Patriots opportunity to convert a key first down, then on an endzone interference call that led to the game-winning Patriots touchdown.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti described the decision to fire Billick as the toughest decision he has ever had to make. Billick, in a short statement, said Bisciotti did what he believed was best for the Ravens, and asserted that the two men are and will remain friends.^[9]

Broadcasting career

When the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs in 2003, Billick was used as a studio analyst by ABC Sports. After being fired by the Ravens, Billick became a draft analyst for the NFL Network during the 2008 NFL Draft. Billick then became a game analyst for the NFL on Fox during the 2008 NFL season.^[10] He worked alongside Thom Brennaman. Billick returned with his NFL on FOX broadcasting partner, Brennaman as a game analyst for the 2009 NFL Season.^[11] For the 2009 NFL season the NFL Network launched a new show aired every weekday, "Playbook" which features exclusive coaches tape to break down the matchups and give a behind-the-scenes look at the previous weekend's games. Billick teamed with fellow NFL Network colleagues Mike Mayock and Solomon Wilcots as part of the early in the week "Playbook" broadcast team.^[12]

Game show contestant

Shortly before beginning his coaching career, Billick appeared as a contestant on Match Game PM in 1977, losing to Marla Marshall.^[13] Panelist Richard Dawson remarked after Billick's loss: "Failed at football. Failed at Match Game. Where will you go now?" ^[14]

NFL Head Coaching record

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Brian Billick has served:

• Dennis Green, Minnesota Vikings (1992-1998)

Assistant coaches under Brian Billick that became NFL head coaches:

• Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars (2003–present)
• Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals (2003–present)
• Mike Nolan, San Francisco 49ers (2005–2008)
• Rex Ryan, New York Jets (2009–present)
• Mike Singletary, San Francisco 49ers (2008–present)
• Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons (2008–present)

References

External links

• Brian Billick at the Internet Movie Database

From Wikiquote

Brian Billick (born February 28, 1954, in Fairborn, Ohio) is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the American National Football League.

Unsourced

• What we want to get out of it is simply them getting into a routine. Where are they? Where are the bathrooms, where is the chow hall, who is the training room and who is the guy with the goofy glasses and too long shorts?

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Brian Billick