UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, October 23, 1996
7B
Bengals' new coach has a no-nonsense reputation
Coslet known for fiery technique
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI — Some Cincinnati Bengals players think Bruce Coslet can succeed in one area where the mild-mannered Dave Shula failed time and time again.
Unable to win games or his players' respect, Shula was fired Monday and replaced by Coslet, the offensive coordinator with a nononsense reputation. The former New York Jets head coach promised change.
"I will say this: You will see a difference," Coslet said during his introductory news conference.
Coslet's manner is the biggest difference between him and Shula, who was considered a nice guy with a soft team. Shula lost 50 games faster than anyone in NFL history
and was fired midway through his fifth season with a 19-52 record.
Coset may be able to motivate some of the younger players on the team.
"He's a fiery guy, and he's going to light some fire under our butts," said tackle Joe Walter, a 12th-year veteran. "I think Dave went about it a different way. Dave went about it being a players' coach and not really trying to rough up the waters."
"He doesn't care whose toes he steps on," Brilz said about Coslet. "He's just going to call it how he sees it, which is good. It holds people more accountable for what they do."
Center Darrick Brilz said Coslet was a little more intense than Shula.
ated fans who will decide the team's future.
President Mike Brown reluctantly fired Shula a day after the Bengals blew a 21-point lead and lost 28-21 in San Francisco. The loss dropped the team to 1-6 and further alien-
The Bengals must sell 50,000 season tickets and a specified number of club seats and luxury boxes by next April to get a new stadium. They didn't even come close to selling out two of their three home games this season. Brown realized change was needed to help marketing.
Asked if he would have kept Shula longer if the new stadium wasn't an issue, Brown said. "The situation that we face is a picture that has a lot of different pieces. That certainly is an important one. Whether it should be or whether it's entirely fair to Dave or not, it's something that is in my mind."
Unless Coslet figures out how to get the team to win, the stadium campaign won't get much help from the coaching change. Fans also are clamoring for Brown to step down as the team's general manager, but he said his role wouldn't change.
That leaves it to Coslet, who will remain head coach next year if he can win the rest of this season.
"My intention is to operate it on the same basis," Brown said.
"Nothing is set in stone," Coslet said. "I know that. Basically, it's about winning, and it's about getting our fans back."
"He doesn't have an easy task in front of him," Brown said. "It's a challenging job right now."
Given the circumstances, that could be difficult to do. The midseason coaching change — only the second in the franchise's 29-year history — doesn't give Coslet the chance to make substantive changes in the roster or offensive and defensive schemes.
Coslet promoted quarterback coach Ken Anderson to offensive coordinator on Monday, but Coslet had no other particular changes in mind.
"Ive never been associated with making a change in the middle of a
season," said Coslet, who was the Bengals' offensive coordinator in the 1980s and the Jets' head coach from 1990-93. "It will be a difficult process. Making change for the sake of change is not necessarily the way to go, and we won't do that. But there will be some issues addressed. It won't happen overnight."
As he left the Bengals on Monday, Shula still was unsure why his 4 1/2 years as head coach didn't work out better.
"It's too hard to put your finger on one certain thing," Shula said. "Certainly if I had been able to do that, we wouldn't have had this press conference here today."
Shula wasn't surprised when Brown called him into his office and fired him Monday morning. Shula called his father to tell him of the move.
Don Shula resigned as the Miami Dolphins' head coach nine months ago with a 347-173-6 coaching
record that included two victories over Dave Shula's Bengals. Mike Shula, the offensive coordinator at Tampa Bay, is the last Shula coaching in the NFL.
"I'm disappointed for Dave," Don Shula said in a statement. "He felt this was going to be a season where it all came together, and obviously it hasn't. After the first half of the 49ers game yesterday, I was hoping that an upset win would turn their season around. Unfortunately it didn't, and instead it turned into another heartbreaking loss."
Don Shula is retired. Dave Shula is 37 years old and not sure what he will do next.
"I haven't had many setbacks in my lifetime," Dave said. "I've dealt with some tough things personally, with my mother dying, and professionally at times. This is certainly a difficult setback. But I feel I have a lot to give to whoever wants to take advantage of my skills. We'll see what happens."
Penn State passer remains confident despite booing fans
The Associated Press
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Going from preseason first-team All-Big 10 to the league's 11th-rated passer hasn't broken Wally Richardson's spirit.
"I am just going to keep on working hard, and hopefully things will turn out better for me, and for the team," the Penn State quarterback said after the 17-ranked Nittany Lions were upset 21-20 Saturday by Iowa.
Richardson completed just 10 of 30 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown and fumbled twice. He insisted the home crowd's boos didn't bother him.
"That's something I have no control over. Everyone is entitled to 'their own opinion,' he said, "I don't worry about the crowd."
Richardson, who has struggled ab a season with inexperienced wideouts and an undersized offensive line, failed for the first time in six attempts to bring Penn State back from a deficit in the closing minutes.
After Iowa turned the ball over on downs on a blown fake field goal, the Lions took over at their own 33 with 2:15 remaining.
"I was confident we could get it done there at the end," he said. "My confidence is fine. That's not a problem with me."
After a time out, Richardson's pass to Joe Jurevicius on fourth-and-5 was too high. Iowa took control and ran out the clock.
On first down, Richardson was sacked for a 9-yard loss by John LaFleur — one of five sacks by the Hawkeyes. Richardson scrambled for a gain of 7 yards on second down and hit Curtis Enis with a 7-yard completion on third.
"I had all intentions of taking it down the field. I guess that it just wasn't in the cards," Richardson said.
Two possessions earlier for Penn State, Kerry Cooks knocked the ball out of Richardson's hands, and Jared DeVries recovered it. Two plays later, Tavian Banks dashed 8 vards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Richardson was booed as he walked off the field, angering his teammates.
more out of our fans."
"That's totally uncalled for," receiver Joe Nastasi said. "I'd expect
Tight end Keith Olsommer agreed. "It's really tough to go out and get booed at home," he said. "That's ridiculous, especially by the students."
One person still solidly in Richardson's corner was coach Joe Paterno.
"Wally is not the problem. Believe me. He's not the problem," he said. "Our pass protection was just horrendous. I thought he hung in there tough. He just didn't have enough time to get anything going."
Paterno did admit he was thinking about bringing in backup Mike McQuary to change the tempo, but Richardson will be starting this week at Indiana as Penn State (6-2, 2-2 in Big 10 play) tries to get back on track.
"Wally's our quarterback until coach Paterno says otherwise," McQuary said. "It's unfortunate that people will point the finger at Wally."
Richardson doesn't point the finger at anyone but himself.
"He's a great leader. He never cuts up his own players. He never blames anybody but himself," Olsommer said. "But a person's shoulders are only so broad. It's time others on offense start stepping up."
Tackle Pete Marczyk shouldered some of the blame.
"It is physically impossible for him to do what he has to do when every time he gets set to throw there are three guys in his face. Wally is getting smacked on every single play." Marczyk said. "You can't expect anything to work if we don't do our job. That's what makes me feel bad."
Richardson has completed 90 of his 185 passes for 1,046 yards (131 yards per game) with four touchdowns and seven interceptions this season.
Last season, Richardson led Penn State to four fourth-quarter comebacks. He is tied for seventh in school history with 24 touchdown passes and is fifth with 3,733 career passing yards.
"I feel some responsibility for the offense not doing well. I feel bad, like it's my fault," he said. "Maybe I'm trying too hard."
Against Wisconsin, he directed the go-ahead drive during the final three minutes of a 23-20 victory.
Cavaliers look to win Florida State game
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia's dramatic victory against Florida State last season probably was the biggest in school history, and the Cavaliers said they hoped it would vault them into national prominence.
It hasn't happened — at least not to the degree the players hoped. The Cavaliers still don't get automatic respect, and what they have earned quickly has been taken away when the team has stumbled.
"We're not someone that can lose to a team we're supposed to beat and only drop a place, like Notre Dame or someone like that," Tidi Barber said. "This program is building, and eventually we're going to set that status."
State on Saturday, have bounced all around the Associated Press poll. They reached No. 12 after beating Texas, then dropped to No. 20 after losing to Georgia Tech.
The Cavaliers, ranked No. 14 after a 62-14 victory against North Carolina
Saturday, Virginia can try to change that. The Cavaliers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to play the 3. Seminoles. A victory would pull them even in the race for the Atlantic Coast Conference title, along with giving the national naysayers another notch that is hard to ignore.
Virginia safety Anthony Poindexter said, "They know if they want to win the national title, they have to beat us. They're still a powerhouse, but we feel we can play with them; we feel like we can beat them."
The Cavaliers did it last season in dramatic fashion, stopping Warrick Dunn inches from the goal line on the game's final play to preserve a 33-28 victory. It is the Seminoles' only loss in 34 ACC games.
While showing the rest of the ACC that the Seminoles weren't invincible,
the victory also helped cement Virginia's status as a conference power. Do it again, the Cavaler's figure, and the nation will have to recognize them too.
It won't be easy. Besides the revenge factor, Florida State is sporting a new look these days, one with more emphasis on defense.
"They're defending the run better," Virginia coach George Welsh said Monday. "And offensively, they've changed their philosophy, too, and maybe it's helped their defense. They're running the ball more — not scoring as fast."
Not as fast or as often.
Last season, the Seminoles arrived in Charlottesville averaging almost 600 yards and 56 points a game. This season, with Thad Busy having replaced Danny Kanell at quarterback, the numbers are 352 yards and 35 points.
This time around, the impressive numbers come from the defense.
The Seminoles only allow 44 rushing yards a game, which is No. 2 in the nation. They haven't allowed a run of more than 14 yards, haven't allowed more than 17 points in a game and average an ACC-best 6.2 sacks a game.
Virginia, meanwhile, has some good numbers of its own. The Cavaliers lead the ACC in total offense with 386 yards a game and in rushing with 220 yards a game. They have averaged a conference-best 37 points.
Barber and quarterback Tim Sherman said they had heard from friends in Florida before the game that the Seminoles had been pointing to this game for a year and hoping to exact their revenge.
"We look at them as a chance to show what we're capable of doing," Sherman said. "A couple of years ago, who would have thought Florida State would put Virginia as its No. 1 game of the year? But it's something we're hearing about now, and it shows where we've gotten our program."
Oilers fans fill seats despite team's move
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — The Houston Oilers could have a new weapon to help them through the rest of this season — a crowd.
After staying away in record numbers because of the Oilers' announced move to Tennessee, a surprisingly large and enthusiastic crowd of 50,122 watched the Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-13 Sunday.
And the Oilers say the screaming fans helped them do it.
"They knew when to cheer," said cornerback Cris Dishman. "They caused that fumble when Mike Tomczak pulled out early."
The players claimed that the low turnout for their first two
"I don't think it was so much beating Pittsburgh as it was the support," George said. "I wanted to enjoy the moment. It was like the days of old when I used to watch these guys on television and it was the House of Pain."
Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George got his first taste of NFL crowd support.
h o m e games this se a s on (27,725 in 20,102 in the other) didn't affect their performance. Apparently, they've changed their minds.
Coach Jeff Fisher appreciated the crowd so much, he sent the team back onto the field for an encore.
Owner Bud Adams anticipated no more than 35,000 fans for Sunday's game, but was delighted that he underestimated the attendance.
"We were pleased and excited not only with the number of fans, but their enthusiasm and support," Fisher said. "Winning is the reason they came, and we want them to come back."
Oilers fans were out-cheered by a large Steelers delegation at the start of the game, but they came to life in the second half when the Oilers rallied for two touchdowns in the closing minutes.
The Associated Press
Jets on pace to lose NFL record 16 games
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — They had four turnovers. They botched two center snaps. The only field goal they tried, by the NFL's career leader, shanked off of an upright. They yielded six field goals to the opposition.
This was one of the best efforts of the season for the New York Jets.
No wonder people are extrapolating their 0-8 record to a historic 0-16. A defeated season would exceed Tampa Bay's one-season mark for ignominy of 0-14 in 1976.
These Jets could duplicate the destruction of the first two months of the season.
"We keep putting ourselves in a hole," said Roger Duffy, who moved from guard to center when Dave Alexander wrecked his knee. Duffy was the snapper for the first the messed-up snaps.
"It's like (coach) Rich Kotite told us after the game: We can play hard and fly around all we want, but if we keep shooting ourselves in the foot, we won't win." Duffy said.
So far, the Jets have fallen short against teams with a combined 34-23 record. Of course, eight of the
victories have against New York. The rest of the schedule has teams with a combined 31-
18 mark. Only Arizona, this week's opponent in Tempe, Ariz., has a losing mark, 3-4. And the Cardinals have won three of their last four.
"We've got to do the same thing this week: get this one out of our system." Kotite said Monday. "This is a game packed with emotion, adrenalin and intensity, and I don't care who you are, it is difficult. We have to draw from within and play better. Playing hard is not enough.
Kotite claims the Jets won't give up, no matter how bad the record.
"You have teams that pack it in, and I have seen that," Kotite said. "What we've got is a bunch of guys who are competing and playing hard and coming up short. They will keep fighting until they do get it done."
When will that be? Keyshawn Johnson, the top overall pick in the draft who returned Sunday from a two-game hiatus from a knee injury, knows it had better be soon.