Nov 24 2008
On Their Way Back?
It seems like only yesterday the New England Patriots were celebrating their second consecutive Super Bowl Championship and their third in four years. That memorable victory against the Carolina Panthers which lead to the departure of New Englands two Coordinators.
Romeo Crennel was the defensive main man and Charlie Weis was the offensive genious that both were given so much credit for the Patriots success. Crennel was on his way to becoming the Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns and Weis was heading to Notre Dame.
It was predicted at that point in time that the Patriots would fold into mediocrity with the loss of its two star coordinators. Even Bill Belichick would not commit to saying that the loss of his two friends would not hurt the Patriots in the future.
How that all has changed now. The Patriots are still among the league elite in the NFL dispite the fact that they have half of their team on injured reserved. Matt Cassel, the Patriots back-up QB, has stepped in for Tom Brady and has performed like no one would have ever expected.
Weis has faltered in Notre Dame and has only established one trade-mark to his Fighting Irish days: Start fast, Finish even slower. Now the talk around Weis is when, not if, he will be fired by Notre Dame after another disappointing season.
Crennel has not seemed to be the right fit in Cleveland where he has had one great season in 2007-08 in which the Browns just missed the playoffs. After a much hyped offseason where the Browns were picked as a favorite to make the playoffs this year.
That as not worked out as planned as the Browns struggle this year to a 4-7 record and things are not looking up any time soon. The hot seat under Crennel appears to be near boiling and soon he just may join Weis as a fired employee of their organizations.
What happens in the future no can predict, but maybe the two end up back with the Patriots at their original posts before they left. Either way, it must have been nice when they got all of the credit for Championships, but it must be terrible when you can not produce afterwards.
J.M.Saucedo
