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Hectic last couple of days, this should have been posted yesterday.
On a side note, today is Raymond Berry's 93rd birthday.
February 26, 1990:
The New England Patriots fired head coach Raymond Berry
General Manager Patrick Sullivan fired Raymond Berry over ‘philosophical differences’ on this date 35 years ago. The previous season the Patriots went 5-11 with Berry serving as his own offensive coordinator. His assistant defensive coaches shared the duties of defensive coordinator, while Sullivan wanted Berry to name an OC and DC. Berry commented that ‘when he doesn’t agree with my decision, his job is to fire me’. He had a humorous response to a reporter’s question about what the philosophical differences that Sullivan alluded to. Berry’s response was ‘I never heard any talk among us about any problems with philosophy’.
At the time Berry was the winningest coach in franchise history, leading New England to a 51-41 record over five seasons. He coached the Patriots to their first post-merger title game after the Pats became the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl by winning three playoff games on the road.
Everything went quickly downhill after that. An exposé on rampant drug use by the players immediately followed the humiliating Super Bowl 20 blowout loss to the Bears. In the 1986 postseason the Pats were one and done, then missed the playoffs in each of the next three seasons. A corresponding drop in attendance had to have been a major factor in the decision, even if Sullivan never mentioned that fact.
Berry made a couple of interesting final comments. He stated that the Patriots were ‘a football team that’s in need of some new talent and some physical healing. Then the team could contend.’ But if those two needs were not met, ‘it’s not reasonable to expect them automatically to be contenders.’
The team failed to achieve either of those two requirements, resulting in four consecutive seasons with double-digit losses after his departure.
Surprisingly, this was Raymond Berry's only job as a head coach. The Hall of Famer was the QB coach for Wayne Fontes' Detroit Lions team in 1991, going 12-4 and making it to the NFCCG with Rodney Peete and then Erik Kramer at QB. The following season Berry was again a QB coach, this time under Dan Reeves in Denver. John Elway suffered a left shoulder injury in the season opener that would require offseason surgery, and later missed four games with a mid-November right shoulder bruise. In the interim the Broncos started 21-year old rookie Tommy Maddox, who was inexplicably drafted in the first round even though Elway was only 32. The Broncos went 0-4 in games Maddox started and finished 8-8 - and Reeves and his entire staff was fired at the end of the season, replaced by Wade Phillips. That was Berry's last job as a coach, at age 59.
On a side note, today is Raymond Berry's 93rd birthday.
Today in Patriots History
Pats fire Raymond Berry
Pats fire Raymond Berry
February 26, 1990:
The New England Patriots fired head coach Raymond Berry
General Manager Patrick Sullivan fired Raymond Berry over ‘philosophical differences’ on this date 35 years ago. The previous season the Patriots went 5-11 with Berry serving as his own offensive coordinator. His assistant defensive coaches shared the duties of defensive coordinator, while Sullivan wanted Berry to name an OC and DC. Berry commented that ‘when he doesn’t agree with my decision, his job is to fire me’. He had a humorous response to a reporter’s question about what the philosophical differences that Sullivan alluded to. Berry’s response was ‘I never heard any talk among us about any problems with philosophy’.
At the time Berry was the winningest coach in franchise history, leading New England to a 51-41 record over five seasons. He coached the Patriots to their first post-merger title game after the Pats became the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl by winning three playoff games on the road.
Everything went quickly downhill after that. An exposé on rampant drug use by the players immediately followed the humiliating Super Bowl 20 blowout loss to the Bears. In the 1986 postseason the Pats were one and done, then missed the playoffs in each of the next three seasons. A corresponding drop in attendance had to have been a major factor in the decision, even if Sullivan never mentioned that fact.
Berry made a couple of interesting final comments. He stated that the Patriots were ‘a football team that’s in need of some new talent and some physical healing. Then the team could contend.’ But if those two needs were not met, ‘it’s not reasonable to expect them automatically to be contenders.’
The team failed to achieve either of those two requirements, resulting in four consecutive seasons with double-digit losses after his departure.
Surprisingly, this was Raymond Berry's only job as a head coach. The Hall of Famer was the QB coach for Wayne Fontes' Detroit Lions team in 1991, going 12-4 and making it to the NFCCG with Rodney Peete and then Erik Kramer at QB. The following season Berry was again a QB coach, this time under Dan Reeves in Denver. John Elway suffered a left shoulder injury in the season opener that would require offseason surgery, and later missed four games with a mid-November right shoulder bruise. In the interim the Broncos started 21-year old rookie Tommy Maddox, who was inexplicably drafted in the first round even though Elway was only 32. The Broncos went 0-4 in games Maddox started and finished 8-8 - and Reeves and his entire staff was fired at the end of the season, replaced by Wade Phillips. That was Berry's last job as a coach, at age 59.
Berry fired as Patriots coach
Raymond Berry was fired Monday as coach of the New England Patriots in a power struggle with general manager Pat Sullivan. Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Rod Rust re-portedly was the top...
www.tampabay.com
Raymond Berry was fired Monday as coach of the New England Patriots in a power struggle with general manager Pat Sullivan. Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Rod Rust re-portedly was the top candidate to succeed Berry. The firing apparently centered on Sullivan's desire that Berry go outside the organization to name offensive and defensive coordinators, while Berry apparently wanted to fill those spots from his current staff.
"In my job as a coach, I'm hired to give these people my best judgment I do things I believe in and I have a very difficult time doing things I don't believe in," said Berry, who was released one day before his 57th birthday. His 5½ season record was 48-39.
Patriots Fire Berry; Rust in Line for Job
Raymond Berry was fired Monday as coach of the New England Patriots in a power struggle with General Manager Pat Sullivan.
www.latimes.com
Sullivan had no comment.
But in a statement released by the team, Sullivan said the decision to release Berry, who took the team to Super Bowl XX against the Chicago Bears, was “the most difficult and most unpleasant of my career.”
The Patriots were 5-11 last season, their worst record since 1981, and missed the NFL playoffs for the third consecutive year.
The Steelers said they had given Rust permission to talk with the Patriots. Rust was Berry’s defensive coordinator for 3½ seasons before filling that position with Kansas City in 1988 and the Steelers in 1989.
Patriots fire head coach Raymond Berry - UPI Archives
Raymond Berry, who coached the New England Patriots to the only Super Bowl appearance of their 30-year history, was fired Monday after losing a power...
www.upi.com
Raymond Berry, who coached the New England Patriots to the only Super Bowl appearance of their 30-year history, was fired Monday after losing a power struggle with General Manager Patrick Sullivan.
Defensive line coach Ed Khayat said Monday, 'the best thing that ever happened to this outfit was when they hired Raymond Berry as coach. He took them to the Super Bowl and they wouldn't have been there without him.'
'He might have been a better coach than he was a player,' Khayat said.
Berry was one of the NFL's all-time best wide receivers while playing with the Baltimore Colts from 1954 to 1967 and was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.
Raymond Berry | Pro Football History.com
pro-football-history.com
Before he was a head coach, Berry served as an assistant coach for Tom Landry, Don McCafferty, Rick Forzano, Forrest Gregg, Chuck Fairbanks, Ron Erhardt, Ron Meyer, Wayne Fontes, and Dan Reeves. Three of these years were spent on Erhardt's coaching staff. One assistant coach from his coaching staffs, Rod Rust, was eventually hired as a head coach. After coaching on Raymond Berry's coaching staff, Rust was the head coach of the New England Patriots for one season where he had a record of 1-15.
Recalling the Raymond Berry era and New England's failed run at Bill Walsh
Bill Belichick.
www.nbcsports.com
According to the late, great Will McDonough of the Boston Globe, then-Patriots owner Victor Kiam offered New England’s head coaching/G.M. roles to former 49ers coach Bill Walsh. However, Walsh turned down the offer, citing his commitment to continue working for NBC, the Globe reported.
Still, a coaching change was coming for New England, which fell to 5-11 in ’89.
The Patriots would tab Steelers defensive coordinator Rod Rust to replace Berry, but he was fired after New England was a league-worst 1-15 in 1990. The Pats then turned to Syracuse head coach **** McPherson, who led New England to a 6-10 mark in ’91. However, New England was 2-14 in ’92, with McPherson missing seven games because of illness. He was replaced in January 1993.
From there, the Patriots hired Parcells, who led New England to the playoffs in his second season and the Super Bowl in his fourth. Then came the three-season stint for Carroll (1997-1999), who was then replaced by Belichick.
But before that trio of coaches came the 9-39 stretch the franchise endured in the three seasons after Berry’s departure. Would things have been different if the Patriots lured Walsh east, or if Berry stayed on? If Walsh succeeded in New England, would Parcells ever have had reason to join the franchise? How would franchise history have been altered?
We’ll never know. But we do know this: Raymond Berry, like Belichick and Carroll, won more than he lost in his time in Foxborough, and he has his own spot in Patriots history.
