Fasselized Remains
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- October
- 17
I want to start off by saying I always liked Jim Fassel over the seven years he coached the Giants. Always accessible, sometimes to a fault. Always quoteable. Good sense of humor.
His only problem was that he thought too highly of his own coaching abilities, which were average at best. When the Giants fired him after 2003, he truly figured he’d just wander into some other team’s offices and say, “Here I am!” and they’d snap him up. He did that with his interview in Arizona. At Buffalo, it was said then-GM Tom Donahoe was so angered by Fassel’s “Take me or leave me” attitude that he warned other teams off Fassel.
Even Fassel himself later admitted he didn’t put the proper effort into those interviews, as he was exhausted from a long, 4-12 season. Instead, he had to settle for the offensive coordinator’s job in Baltimore, with his good friend Brian Billick.
Fassel doesn’t even have that anymore. Billick fired him today.
You can look at the 4-2 Ravens’ No. 28 ranking in overall offense as a reason. Or you can look at the offensive players’ discontent with the passing game. Those are good enough reasons. But this thing has been building for a while.
It was Fassel, remember, who was brought in to get Kyle Boller straightened out. That never happened, save for little stretches. Eventually, they brought in old and battered Steve McNair, and Boller couldn’t even beat him out. Failed projects never help job security.
Neither does a big mouth. Not that Fassel was ever outrageous. But he did like to talk. And to an equally large ego guy like Billick, a guy who believes he wrote the book on media relations because he once served as a PR intern with the 49ers, it chafed him no end. He even chewed out Fassel last year for a late preseason interview.
Fassel told him to take it easy, lest Billick explode before the season even opens.
Not the right answer.
More recently, Fassel told an on-line service, was the difference in philosophies between Billick’s offensive vision and Fassel’s vision. Billick had taken too much of a hand in forming the offensive plan. When Fassel approached him about leaving the unit in one man’s hands, Billick decided that his hands were the appropriate ones, since it’s his job on the line.
So it’s not exactly a surprise that Fassel got fired. Honestly, what would be surprising is if he ever picked up another NFL coaching job. He’d probably be better served working at the college level a few seasons and rehabbing his rep as a quarterback guru. He’s said he wants no part of college anymore, though, so he’ll have to find another NFL head coach willing to trust him with his quarterback.
That’s not as easy as it sounds.
Ciao for now.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 1:33 pm by Ernie Palladino. 
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Ernie Palladino
