Belichick

C HERNDON, Va. -- When it comes to being focused on the next opponent, it's hard to top Joe Gibbs.The Washington Redskins coach, who sleeps in his office three nights a week and hasn't been able to identify such public figures as Oliver North and Madonna in the past, is the prototype of the coach whose life is the game.Bill Belichick, rookie coach of the Cleveland Browns, doesn't sleep in his office, but he may be even more intense than Gibbs about the preparing for the next game -- in this case, Sunday against the Redskins at RFK Stadium.

Dick Jauron was as good as gone. No way was he going to finish the four-year contract he signed with the Chicago Bears in 1999. Not with a new general manager who preferred to hire his own people. Not with a two-year record of 11-21 as head coach. Not with a team that had no established No. 1 quarterback. Bill Belichick reached his crossroads two games into the 2001 season. The New England Patriots had lost their best receiver in the preseason and their franchise quarterback in Week 2. There Belichick was in Week 3, staring at a long season with a vulnerable defense, a roster filled with marginal free-agent signings and a second-year quarterback who had thrown three passes in 2000.

Art Modell can be blamed for many things. Bill Belichick's resignation as coach of the New York Jets is not one of them. There is no "inner turmoil" raging inside Belichick, contrary to what Jets president Steve Gutman said Tuesday after losing his second coach in two days. Belichick knows exactly what he is doing. He wants to get out from under Bill Parcells. And he wants the world to believe he couldn't possibly take a job under the Jets' uncertain ownership after being so scarred by Modell's decision to move to Baltimore in 1995.

The Cleveland Browns yesterday made Bill Belichick the National Football League's youngest coach, hiring the defensive coordinator of the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants.Belichick, 38, was given a five-year contract to replace Bud Carson, who was fired Nov. 5 after the Browns lost seven of their first nine games. Former offensive coordinator Jim Shofner finished the season as interim coach, but took his name out of the running.Cleveland's 3-13 mark was the worst in the franchise's 41-year NFL history, a big turnaround from five straight trips to the playoffs.

Baltimore owner Art Modell said yesterday that he expects to determine the status of five-year head coach Bill Belichick soon, a development that could take place as early as today and would result in a new coach for the Baltimore franchise.Modell was urged by his players on Monday to make a decision on Belichick, or bring in a new coach so they can begin off-season workouts and implement a new system.Belichick has two years left on a contract worth nearly $1.3 million, but has not received a commitment from Modell that he will coach in Baltimore.

NEW YORK -- Bill Belichick will be back in Cleveland tonight, according to two NFL sources. That makes it unlikely he'll be named head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but quite possible he'll be named the new head coach of the Browns tomorrow or Wednesday.The New York Giants' 38-year-old defensive coordinator -- who interviewed at Tampa and Cleveland last week -- will meet again with Browns owner Art Modell tonight at Modell's home. It is believed that if they can finalize terms of a contract and the amount of control Belichick will be given, he will succeed the fired Bud Carson and interim Jim Shofner as the Browns' coach.

If the Cleveland Browns meet the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, the highlight may be the post-game handshake between the two coaches.The relationship was strained last week when Bill Belichick of the Browns took potshots at Marv Levy of the Bills for suggesting the Browns faked injuries to slow the no-huddle offense Monday night.Levy has made the suggestion in the past about other teams, including the New York Giants when Belichick was the team's defensive coordinator.Belichick replied: "I think that's a bunch of garbage.

The New England Patriots crawled out of a 1-3 hole last season to win their first NFL championship. Coach Bill Belichick doesn't want to have to take that uphill route again, so he greeted players at training camp with T-shirts and a theme. On the back of the T-shirts was a bull's-eye with the logos of the Patriots' first four opponents in the center. The theme, Targeting September, was also written on the back. What Belichick was saying is that the Patriots can't afford another 1-3 start - or the 0-4 they experienced in 2000 - if they expect to defend their Super Bowl title.

He was a precocious 8-year-old in a college film room asking questions about defensive run support. He was an NFL assistant coach at 23. Most recently, he was the New York Giants' defensive coordinator and a major factor in two Super Bowl victories.That was yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, Bill Belichick was introduced as coach of the Cleveland Browns, who were 3-13 in 1990. It is the job for which he has been preparing virtually all his life.Belichick, 38, is one of the youngest head coaches in NFL history.

The three-year battle between Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Bernie Kosar is over -- and Belichick is the winner.Belichick put the popular quarterback on waivers yesterday, saying that Kosar had lost his skills, but Kosar said -- and most of his teammates agree -- that Belichick felt Kosar was a threat to his control of the team.Kosar, a native of Boardman, Ohio, took the Browns to five straight playoff appearances after he joined the team in 1985, including three AFC championship games, but Belichick refused to run an offense that featured his ability to read defenses.