European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday january 6,1993 a it sports the stars and stripes b Page 25 r Pittsburgh a one Day after watching buffaloes Frank Reich Lead the greatest comeback in nil history Pittsburgh Steeler coach Bill Cowher decided his own backup quarterback Isnit the Man to beat the Bills Bubby Bristers Best game in three years assured the Steeles of Home Field advantage throughout the playoffs but it Wasny to enough to keep him playing. A Cowher said Neil of Donnell who Hasni to played in a month and was playing poorly when he was healthy a a will Start saturdays Home playoff game against Buffalo. A this is the decision we be made and we re going to go with it a Cowher said. A like we be said All along we re glad we be got two quarterbacks who can do the he just Hopes he a picked the right one. A the advantage we have As i look at it is we be got two quarterbacks who have experience a Cowher said. Bubby a proven to be a Guy who can come in and do the Job when he a had but it s not comfortable for Brister who lobbied hard a very hard a for the Job after starting the steel Erst final three regular season games. He was ineffective in losses to Chicago 30-6 and Minnesota 6-3but has never played better than he did in completing 18 of 25 passes for 223 Yards and a touchdown in a 23-13 Victor Cleveland on dec. 27. Victory Over of 2 by Michael a. Lutz Houston apr Jim Eddy folded the Houston oilers defense from one of the worst in the nil three years ago to one of the Best this season. But one More inglorious collapse Cost him his Job. Eddy was fired As defensive coordinator monday along with secondary coach Pat Thomas after the oilers blew a 35-3 third Quarter Lead and allowed Buffa to a charge to a 41-38 playoff Victory on sunday. The Oiler defense improved from no. 27 to no. 4 in total defense under Eddy a direction but it had a bad habit of failing to hold onto leads. The latest one was too much for general manager Mike Holovak to ignore. Quot he Eddy is in charge of the defense and i Wasny to very Happy Aith what i saw yesterday a Holovak said monday. Holovak Wasny to dazzled by the oilers defensive statistics this season. A statistics May mean something somewhere but i m not too sure they Are All that valid a he said. Quot sometimes this year we played clubs that had their second or third quarterback in the game. A that helps stats but its wins and losses that quarterback Frank Reich riddled the oilers Loose zone defense with three second a if touchdowns to Andre Reed and Steve Christie kicked the winning Field goal in overtime. Eddy and Thomas had been a part of Pardeep a staff with the Usel Houston gamblers 1984-85 and for three years at the University of Houston 1986-89 before coming to the oilers in 1990. The firings were a difficult decision for Pardee who took part in the decision making process. He said he was uncomfortable with the timing i probably have done anything this he said. A the wanted it done today so we did Holovak said Pardee who has two years remaining on his contract would return next season. Quot that a Fine with me yes a he said. A if it Wasny to wed probably have changed after suffocating the Bills offence in the first half of sundays wild card playoff Eddy shifted the Pilurs into a Loose zone that brought a cornerback criticism from Cris Dishman. Quot we knew they were going to feature Andie Reed in the second half but we stayed in the same zones Dishman said. A when you. Play the same things All the time teams arc going to beat you. It was the same old Pardee said he saw nothing wrong with the coverages. Quot we knew they a concentrate on Reed and he Hurt us anyway a Pardee said. A we tried to Blitz and that put us in some one on one coverages. They called timeouts to Stop a couple of Pardee noted that the oilers a played them for six quarters and gave up two Field goals. Then they changed their crossing routes to vertical routes Ana they were making throws and catches like we were in the first Eddy Ross restores Power to upstart by Bernie Wilson san Diego apr Boss Ross is at it again. Two years after leading Georgia tech to the co National championship Bobby Ross has taken the san Diego chargers from Zero to the playoffs in his Rookie season As nil head coach. The chargers survived a 0-4 Start to win the acc West at 11-5 and Blank the Kansas City chiefs 17-0 in saturdays playoff opener. They have essentially the same players As tast year when their decade of decline bottomed out at 4-12. The turnaround makes Ross a Strong candidate for coach of the year although he downplays his role in recharging san Diego. T a i think in a just a very Small spoke in a very big wheel a Ross said. A there Are a lot of things that go into not so fast coach. A a he a Happy to give credit to everybody else but unfortunately he can to get away with that right now a said general manag a a fir the yellow jackets 1990 co National championship team. A you can never Tell it Bobby Beathard who fired Dan Henning last dec. 23 and hired Ross on Jan. 2. A just look at the record a Beathard said. A without Bobby its Tough to imagine being Here right Ross 56, is having the same Success he had in building up the programs at the Citadel Maryland and Georgia tech. In 15 years As a College head coach he was 94-76-2, with four league titles and six bowl appearances. Under Ross unwavering style the chargers won their first acc West title since 1981. The play Miami on the Road sunday in the acc semifinals. Tackle Mike Mooney played for Ross at Georgia tech and is watching the chargers Renaissance from the sidelines while recovering from a shoulder injury. The yellow jackets slogged through a 520 record under Ross before winning 18 of their next 20 games. A tech was on the verge of losing for a while. Then just like Here it happened All at once a said Mooney a member of How fast its be. But if he has personnel hell Ross said he inherited better Talent with the chargers than at Georgia tech. A i think in this program maybe 1 came in at a time when it was starting to go up and at Georgia tech i think it was starting to go Down and people did t realize that at the time a he said. Ross hired Bill Arnsparger As defensive coordinator and a switch to a 4-3 alignment unleashed Leslie of Neal and Junior seau Ross insisted on offensive balance even As quarterback Stan Humphries struggled to learn the system As the emergency replacement for the injured John Friez. When Humphries came around so did the team. Ross a puts the great players in position to make plays and that a what s happen ing Here Mooney said. Chargers players say Ross stresses preparation. Plays Are run repeatedly until they re done right. One Day at practice he was so steamed at the offence that he kicked the whole team off the Field and sent them inside to a meeting. Ross is the fourth head coach for cornerback Gill Byrd who says he never experienced such attention to detail in his previous nine seasons. A the brought a winning attitude. He s turned programs around a Byrd said. A it starts with the coach a the attitude the philosophy. Coach Ross came at the right time with his philosophy of the chargers say they respect Ross approach. A the brought a certain amount of enthusiasm a linebacker Gary Plummer said. A the likes to use positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement and i think that s been what was missing with the chargers Ross said a was a matter of j ust winning a couple of close football games. That helped As much As anything. There a nothing magical about to Excel chargers Bobby Ross. A Small spoke the key games in the climb to .500 were a 24-21 Home Victory Over Denver and a 14-13 comeback win at Cleveland. From there san Diego took full advantage of its fifth place schedule Beathard said Ross got the players to believe that they could win despite the 04 Start a they knew Bobby and his staff were doing the right things a Beathard said. A the gave them a belief in themselves and because of that they were Able to pull it together and win. That in turn gave them Confidence they so badly after winning 11 of their last 12 games the chargers Are ready for the next step. A i want to win badly and win beyond the playoffs because you done to get you self in this position too often a Ross said. A you want to try to capitalize on Wypa Zlattner the sporting news bet on the san Diego chargers and Ini Diana Polis Colts As the american football conference teams most Likely to grow Strong enough to break the National football conference s stranglehold in the super bowl. Both the chargers and Colts Are positioned properly to develop into acc by lies. They also have the Correct front office philosophy to leap past their conference Peers and dare to Challenge their pfc counterparts. This is especially True if the nil adopts wide scale free Agency after this season. The boldest teams will capitalize immediately on the enticements of free Agency and general managers Bobby Beathard of san Diego and Jim Irsay of Indianapolis have demonstrated a willingness to take chances in the personnel department. Look for both teams to be among the most Active in signing free agents. A certainly both men never have relied solely on the draft to build their teams. Beathard a personnel decisions have been More successful than irs Ayyo Beathard was the architect of Washington a super bowl teams in the 1982, 83 and 87 seasons a but the Colts improvement this season is the first sign of vindication for Irsay a Talent and Trade judgments. A a they be both got Young teams and Young quarterbacks a says Ernie Accorsi a former nil personnel Man with the Colts and Cleveland Browns. A Teddy Marchibroda has done a great Job of coaching with the Colts and first year coach Bobby Ross held things together in san Diego when they got off to a slow Start. You be got to like their
