European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday. January 24. 1990 the stars and stripes Page 23 super bowl xxiv be Fern mixes Ditko and Walsh by Dave Goldberg new Orleans a the Day after i he biggest Victory of his National football league coaching career the 30 3 win Over the rams that put his san Francisco 49crs in the super bowl George Scifert looked like a professor As he faced the press wearing the same patterned Blue Cardigan and tops Der moccasins without socks he had worn the week before. Lucky sweater someone asked him. I guess he replied with his characteristic smile then added i m glad no one asked about my of All the comparisons Between Scifert and his predecessor that comment May say the most. Can anyone imagine Bill Walsh who frowned on four letter words and preached decorum As much As foot Ball talking about underwear the Man who has the 49crs on the verge of their fourth super bowl was protege of the Man who won the first three and has his same professorial looks. But he is about As different from his predecessor As two men can be who succeed in a demanding and offbeat profession. To put it another Way. There May be As much Mike Ditka As Bill Walsh in George Scifert. If most 49crs regard Scifert As a play ers coach there is steel behind the White hair and affable exterior just ask Tim Mckyer. One of his Best defensive backs who was suspended for two games after talking Back when Scifert asked him to return to the lineup after Silling out with a Groin injury. He can be Quarter Back Joe Montana says of a Man who looks and often talks like Vanilla ice Cream. Just ask the defensive ask this defensive Guy. Anybody who does t think George is Lough does t know what he s talking about says safety Ronnie loll who played under Scifert when he was the49ers defensive Backfield coach and defensive coordinator. I mean this is a Guy who la make you do it Over and Over until Vou get it right. If there were lights out there on the prac Tice Field we d stay out there Al night. I the offensive Guys thought they were get Ting a softy they were getting a sur Ditka s a bit of a stretch Scifert never has and never will grab a player on the sidelines and shake him in full View of the monday night football cameras. Scifert will never say we stink after a loss although he has t had much prac Tice just two losses in his first 18 nil games. Thai s a Long Way from where Scifert who turned 50 Jan. 22, thought his coaching career was headed a decade ago. A native of san Francisco he attended polytechnic High school next to the 49crs old Home at Czar stadium and served As an usher there. Then he played linebacker and guard at the University of Utah and got his first head coaching Job at Utah s West Minster College at age 26. The next year. Westminster dropped football. Then it was on to Oregon where he was an assistant on the same staff As therms John Robinson. He got his second head coaching Job in 1975 at Cornell in 1975. Went 3-15 in two years and was fired after influential alumni held Bac contributions to the athletic department to Force his dismissal. It was disillusionment personified. As Scifert says now it took me 8 years before 1 thought i wanted to be a head coach most of those years were spent with Walsh first at Stanford then with the49crs. Always in the background some times seeming painfully shy and with drawn except to the players who had to serve under him. Loll says he virtually bullied him into becoming a starter in 1981. When Scifert Force fed three Rook ies into starting jobs in the secondary on a team that went on to become the firs of three 49cr super bowl winners. A couple of years later. Scifert was ready to seek a head coaching Post an interviewed in 1985 for the Indianapolis Job that eventually went to Rod Dow Hower. When Walsh stepped Down after the third super bowl last season he strongly recommended that Scifert be named his successor. Owner Edward Debartolo or. Walked for a while looking for a bigger name so Walsh reportedly told Scifert to Force Dibartolo s hand by looking else where. And that s where he was on a plane to interview for the Cleveland Job when his wife called to say the 49crs wanted him to come Back. So he stepped into one of the most pressured jobs in football a Laic 80s version of Phil Bengtson who two dec Ades ago replaced Mcc Lombardi after Cir can Bay won the first two super bowls and dropped to 6-7-1. It was a change welcomed by the 49crs during a training Camp noticeably More relaxed in style than Walsh s. Most seemed elated that no one. Stackle Harris Barton put it. Was partic ular about having your shirt tucked in or not no one seemed to notice that Scifert conducted far More Contact practices in full pads in the 100-Degrcc eat of inc Sierra Foothills. Seifert. Meanwhile quietly welcomed the Bengtson analogy. "1 remember somebody said to me. If you win. It s going to be Bill Walsh s team. If you lose. It s going to be your team " he said Al the time. I Hope it s going to be Bill Walsh s it was t. It was better. 14-2 compared to 10-6 in Walsh s final season although the final hurdle has yet to be sur mounted. Pm George stif Crl. Intimidating we came to Camp with a lot to says tackle Bubba Paris who has been re inserted in the starting lineup after being benched by Walsh for failing to lose some of the 348 pounds he car Ries. George wanted to prove that he can be More than an assistant. Mike Holm Gren wanted to prove he could be an offensive coordinator and not just a quarterback coach and Bill Mcpherson wanted to prove he could be defensive r. Everybody had a new Atti and everyone seemed to relax in the democratic atmosphere. Reeves nil career record rings True by Barry Vilner Denver a like a child open ing his presents on Christmas morning like a Parent watching his offspring per form onstage like an inventor seeing his creation work. Dan Reeves was beaming. The coach of the Denver Broncos had a captive audience As he displayed his seven championship rings. Seven with another on the Money you win if you re mar ried it s gone very quickly most of the time before you Sec Reeves said As he set the rings on a table Side by Side. A tableau of a career of pro football re wards. The rings arc there forever. That s what the players want to see. The Money does t mean anything. They want to Sec the so they did. Reeves showed them to the Broncos on Day before they beat the Cleveland Browns. 37-21. To Advance to the super bowl for the third time in four years. It was the third time i be seen them John Elway said with a shrug. Maybe he got a Rise put of the Young he did. It s exactly what Reeves had in mind. And it worked apparently be cause the Broncos played their Best Gam of the season in the acc title game. Now Reeves is headed Back to the super bowl for a record eighth time. He might not get the acclaim Given Bill Walsh. Joe Gibbs. Chuck Wolfand Don Shula. But he belongs in their class. Sure he has t won the big one As a head coach. But the Job Reeves did getting the Broncos Back to the super bowl this sea son was As masterful As any of the work done by Walsh. Gibbs it Al. Denver s Dan Reeves. Game has to be fun there s no question about it this was Dan s Best year coaching Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said. We were 8-8 in1988. We were being picked to finish third or fourth in our division. We knew we had a lot of improvement to make. And Dan made the necessary some of those moves were painful for Reeves. He revamped his coaching staff firing defensive coordinator Joel Collier who held the position for 20 years and four longtime assistants. He Cut popular place kicker Rich Karlis and replaced him with untested David Treadwell. Mike Harden the Leader of the secon Dary and Denver s most versatile player also was released at the end of training Camp to make room for top draft pick Steve Atwater at free safety. Wide receiver Steve Watson another popular Veteran was released. So was tackle Dave Studdard. Always the most difficult part of being a coach of any team is having to make decisions that affect people s lives said Reeves. These Guys have been a big part of your Success then you have to let them go and it s but essential. Yes they had to be done but that does t make it any Reeves said. With All the changes we had and the new faces coming in and coming off a poor season the Way we were competitive was an indication of How a team can go from a bad year to being in the Hunt to play in the super bowl. It s been a very satisfying year. Not the whole year however. At mid season Reeves was t showing off any jewelry. The Broncos were 6-2, headed for a Romp in the acc West but Reeves was unhappy. I be been Here nine years and this is the least amount of fun i be Ever he said. It should be rewarding to see a Young team play the Way this one has. It s no fun to Deal with the negative part All the time. This game has to be it was Reeves yearly blowup. The tune has changed completely of course. How could it not with a team that was in the super bowl and had the Best record in the conference Reeves 45. Joined the Broncos in 1981 after & decade As Tom Landry s assistant at Dallas. He served As Offen Sive coordinator for Landry from 1977 when Dallas beat the Broncos for the nil title until Edgar Kaiser then the Broncos owner hired him to replace the popular red Miller. Only in the 1982 strike season when Denver was 2-7, did Reeves Lack Accuri to. But he survived and his record for the1980s was 89-54-1. He gets along Well with Bowlin. Who bought the team in 1984. And his relationship with the Media has been hot and cold As is the Case with All nil coaches ranging from cordial to adversarial. Reeves sense of humor has become More evident in recent years and he can be almost hilarious at limes. He tried to explain to laughter in a pc acc championship news conference How the thin air in Denver gets in there and makes the Field All wet and soft. It s part of the to Mcfield there won t be any to Mcfield advantage or Many edges at All for the Broncos in new Orleans. They arc heavy underdogs but Reeves does t mind. He s Happy hell be there
