Paul Brown

[*SHRacerX*]

(11-05-2017, 12:04 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: So he was before my time so I don't really know much about him. I know he was an extremely successful coach in Cleveland. Quite innovative.

My question is: What was he like in Cincy? Was he a great coach here? Was he a great owner and personnel guy?

The season I ask is because fans tend to look at his death and Mike Brown taking over as the turning point to when we got bad. And we did get worse.

But n the 50 years of the franchise, we've had exactly 3 seasons where we won atleast 1 playoff game. That's quite pathetic by sports standards.

What are your thoughts? Have the Bengals even been a great franchise? Did Paul Brown do great things here? Or was his reputation mainly built in Cleveland where he coached a great team?

What I think made him one of the greatest coaches in the history of football was based on several key characteristics:

1.)  Innovation.  He was able to adapt an entire offense to the skills of a QB after Greg Cook was injured and created what is now (imaccurately) known as the West Coast Offense.  It should be called the Ohio River Offense, but I digress.  He also created the facemask to protect players, and is also credited as creator of certain staples of today's game.  The way the NFL shits on the Bengals is a travesty as the NFL today would not be what it is today without Paul Brown.

2.) Discipline.  His teams didn't self-destruct.  He was a strict disciplinarian and he practiced certain facets over and over again until his team had perfection.  

3.) Dedication.  He was a "grinder" in the sense that he hated losing and he worked with what talent he had until they were at the top of their game.  Some argue that players viewed him as old-fashioned and began to tune him out toward the end of his career but that doesn't change his incredible track record of success.  Plus, I can't imagine that it was easy to be a coach/owner...as most players probably didn't like his frugal nature while being a millionaire, before players earned what they do today.  

If you want to learn more about the man, look for a copy of the "A Football Life:  Paul Brown" from ESPN.  It was a fantastic Biography of his life as a coach.