Wild Bill

Callahan stays calm while coaching aggressively

SAN DIEGO -- There's a fascinating irony to the Bill Callahan-Jon Gruden saga here this week, but it's somewhat easy to miss.

I dare you to uncover a recent story about Callahan that doesn't describe Oakland's first-year head coach in one or more of the following ways: Calm, cool, steady, even-keeled, stoical, unflappable or in control. It's already the accepted short-hand take on Callahan, and it's very much accurate in many ways.

But then there's Gruden, the former Raider and current Tampa Bay head coach who is invariably referred to as explosive, dynamic, fiery, demonstrative, emotional, animated and feisty. The man they call Chucky for his ever-present facial contortions appears to live life near the edge, going full bore, with the constant potential for losing control.

That perception is also somewhat rooted in reality.

But here's where the contrast -- and conventional wisdom -- gets turned on its square head: Callahan, whose sideline demeanor conjures up Tom Landry on qualudes, is a go-for-the-throat play-caller who has never held a lead he considers safe. Where others might have been inclined to turn conservative and take no chances after inheriting an 11-5, division-winning team, Callahan scoffed at the status quo and instilled in his offense an aggressive, killer instinct.

Falling out SAN DIEGO -- This week, Bill Callahan has been probed and prodded about his relationship with Jon Gruden, whom he still refers to as his NFL tutor and mentor. He has, of course, been guarded, but this is all you need to know: The day after the Raiders, Gruden and the Bucs struck their middle-of-the-night deal last February, Gruden was in the Raiders office, meeting with assistants and going through the regular motions of offseason planning. According to league sources, never once that day did he call his staff together and announce his move to Tampa Bay, explaining what it might mean to his staff and their families. Instead, Callahan and the other assistants were left to hear the news from other sources. The bad taste that episode left lingered for quite some time, in that it underlined to Callahan and others that Gruden had only self-interest at heart. Callahan is said to have made that point somewhat forcefully to Gruden's own father, 49ers area scout Jim Gruden, at the ensuing scouting combine. This week, Callahan said of that time: "When Jon first left, we were taken aback. He made a decision that was based and predicated on what was best for him and his family. We understood it the best we could, and we moved on." Asked about his relationship with Gruden, Callahan praised his former boss, saying he would never have made it to his current vantage point without their association. But tellingly he added: "We were very close. We were close personally." Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't. But in both instances, Callahan dropped into past tense. -- Don Banks, Sports Illustrated

If nothing else, the Raiders would attack for the entire length of a game this season, never backing off, never backing down. Retreat simply was not an option.

Gruden, meanwhile, took his act to Tampa Bay, where his sideline antics continue to push the envelope, but his offense doesn't. He's still every bit as demonstrative -- mugging for the cameras with that million-dollar scowl -- and every bit as conservative in his play-calling, preferring to sit on leads and grind out the clock with the running game whenever possible.

Only when Gruden finally conceded, in the second half of the season, that his Bucs just couldn't run the ball well enough to rely on that part of their game did Tampa Bay's offense start to open up and flourish.

Yet Callahan's rep continues to be all about his composure, while Gruden's famous lack of equanimity remains the first thing people associate with him.

Funny things, perception and reality. Sometimes, they're as removed from each other as opposing goal lines.

"Some people save up their emotions for when they count, and I think Callahan is one of those guys," Raiders guard Frank Middleton said at Oakland's Super Bowl media session on Wednesday. "He's not going to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He's going to sit back, keep all his anger in until game day and then let it rip.

"We like what he's done to this offense. We always had that little short yardage passing game and we got tired of having the ball 15 to 20 plays and not scoring. We want big plays, and now we make big plays. I'm a pit bull, so I live to go for the throat."

But Callahan's winning touch with the Raiders indeed has encompassed both rock-solid stability and a willingness to take chances. And his steadiness was appreciated in Oakland this season, especially in a locker room that seemed somewhat wearied by Gruden's mercurial ways.

When the Raiders slumped to four consecutive losses after their gang-buster 4-0 start, Callahan never panicked and never ranted. He trusted his veteran team to steady itself, and it did, winning nine of its past 10 games to reach the Super Bowl.

"We've been very consistent here in terms of our approach and the way we've dealt with issues that have come up," Callahan said recently. "I think the players, especially for a veteran team, appreciate a direct honesty and a direct approach. We don't pull punches and we're on the same page. We're working together toward one cause, one goal."

That goal is the Raiders' first Super Bowl title in 19 years, which if it's reached on Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium would make Callahan the first rookie head coach to win it all since San Francisco's George Seifert in 1989.

Not bad for a guy folks had hardly heard of 11 months ago, when we were all assuming he'd be Al Davis' puppet. But should he fall short on Super Bowl Sunday, Callahan already has worked his way out of Gruden's long shadow.

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"Bill's his own man," said Raiders defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan, who also served on Gruden's staff. "He's not Jon Gruden, and that's the first thing he told everybody. And the guys know Bill. He's not as intense as Jon, but he's as even-keeled as anybody you could ever deal with, and that's brought a comfort level to our veterans.

"That's brought a level of stability that we didn't have. There's no surprise to me that we're here. I think he was the perfect hire for the perfect position at the perfect time."

Any old amateur psychologist can deduce that much of what is being said in terms of Callahan's positive impact in Oakland this year is in part a reflection on Gruden. And sometimes it's not even in couched language.

Last week, Raiders Pro Bowl offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy had this to say about Gruden in the Los Angeles Times: "A lot of the antics that happened when Gruden was here, and how they had to have a camera fixated on him during a game, to me was funny. He was like a little man who wanted to be a big man and wanted to rule the world. He had kind of a Napoleonic complex."

Of Callahan, Kennedy added: "He hasn't changed from the time he was an offensive line coach to the time he's a head coach. His demeanor is still the same way ... And when he talks to the media, he's still the same way. He doesn't change it up. He doesn't necessarily have a game-day face that he puts on here for the cameras and then goes in and does something different."

That consistency gave Callahan a certain cache with his veteran team as the long season wore on. And unlike other recent Raiders teams that swooned late in the year, Oakland got stronger and stronger.

"I'd run through a brick wall for this guy, simple as that," linebacker Bill Romanowski said. "This guy has put us in the right frame of mind week in and week out to go out and win football games.

"Bill's been very poised, and he's handled the year well. When he has needed to be inspirational he has been. When he's needed to be tough, he has been. It's one of those things where he's done all the right things. He's made all the right moves. I've got a lot of confidence in this guy."

Maybe that's just how things work in Oakland. Either the head coach gets animated, opinionated and colorful, or the players do. But never at the same time.

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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