Paul Brown’s Biggest Fumble (SV)

February 22, 2010

In the state of Ohio there is a football legend that compares to no other; he is Paul Brown, and he is rightfully revered by those who are familiar with his career.
The man revolutionized the game in countless ways, ranging from a complex passing attack to the face mask on helmets. He coached his way to an Ohio state championship at Massillon High, an NCAA championship at Ohio State and both an AAFL and an NFL championship with the Cleveland Browns – a team named after him.

He founded the Bengals in 1968, taking over as team president, general manager and head coach. Yet despite all of his glory, Brown made two critical mistakes while in Cincinnati. One is turning over the team to his son, who now acts as team president, general manager and local villain. The lesser known oversight, however, took place in 1976, when Brown refused to promote a bright offensive assistant coach who many suspected was being groomed to take over for Brown once he stepped down as head coach. That man is Bill Walsh, whose team went on to beat the Bengals in the Super Bowl – twice.

The facts are that Walsh was hired by the expansion Bengals in 1968 as a receivers coach but quickly became what would later be called an offensive coordinator. He created an offense of short-yardage passing plays that accommodated the weak arm of backup quarterback Virgil Carter once the promising starter, Greg Cook, went down with a shoulder injury. Walsh led a proficient offense in Cincinnati for eight years, and the speculation began that he would become the next head coach of the Bengals. Instead, Brown hired someone named Bill “Tiger” Johnson, and Walsh left Cincinnati for other opportunities.

After coaching at Stanford for two seasons, Walsh became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, going on to win three Super Bowls in 10 seasons. He is nicknamed the “Genius,” and the same offense he devised in Cincinnati has since been dubbed the West Coast Offense and is now used in some variation by nearly every NFL team.

The twist to the story, though, is that Walsh says that, when he was passed over for the head coaching job and decided to leave, Brown actively tried to sabotage his career. The Bengals offered Walsh an expanded role and more money but not the top job; and when Walsh refused, Brown saw it as an act of betrayal. Brown recommended other teams ignore the future “genius,” calling him too soft to be a head coach or even an offensive coordinator for another team. Former Bengals receiver Isaac Curtis, however, said that Brown once told him that he promised the head coaching job to Bill Johnson eight years earlier, but Bill Walsh said that Brown also promised him the same thing many times.

The irony to it all is that Paul Brown, with his speedy players and their fancy passing, was once considered a less than rugged coach, too. The great innovator couldn't see enough of himself in Walsh to make him head coach for the same false drawbacks that were labeled on him. Or was it that Brown saw plenty of himself in Bill Walsh, and wasn't prepared to be replaced by someone as great as he was.

Who knows? Sadly, both men have since passed on, and the repercussions of the decisions made by the Bengals in 1976 are well documented. A Bengals fan can't help but wonder what would have happened if Walsh had stayed? How many Super Bowls would Cincinnati have won in the ’80s? Maybe still zero, but I would have liked to see it anyway.