Bisciotti - MVP?

[Galen Sevinne]

Growing up in and living in Severna Park, I have had a couple opportunities to interact with the Bisciotti's from playing golf with him and his wife, friends of mine being really good friends with Steve and a family member being very close to Steve's mom. Everyone talks about the quality of the guy and while I am certainly biased, there is a lot of objective information from how he has built a billion dollar business basically from nothing and how he treats family and friends.

I had just finished playing a cold round of golf with a friend in 2001 when he recieved a phone call from Bisciotti to hear that Bisciotti was offering him his last ticket to the SB 35 including airfare on chartered flight. Pretty cool moment albeit a jealous one for me.

I was completey enthused when local rumors arose about Bisciotti considering buying the team. A local sports fan, deeply rooted in the Colts and a lifelong resident of the area. I knew it would be good news. Bisciotti is known as a guy who just seems to always make the right decisions and in the end, succeed.

There was a lot debate early this year with the firing of Billick that Biscotti had no idea how to run a football team and that his billion dollar business was no measurement for potential success in the NFl. There wasn't a person who knew Steve that doubted that he would probably be right with this "gut" decision this time as well.

From 5-11 to 11-5 with a rookie QB and a rookie coach. Playoff bound and a team that appears to exude more than what people expect. Biscotti fired a proven NFL coach and replaced him with a special teams coach because he felt that Harbaugh had something special. Nothing he could really put his finger on but there was something special. Oh how he was right.

If Biscotti finds a way to keep this defense together for a couple more years and with the emerging offense, we could be at the top for many seasons.

I would have to say Biscotti was right with his firing of Billick and hiring of Harbaugh. He said it was his hardest decision ever. He showed the courage and trust in himself and pulled the trigger. Kudos to Steve! His decision chnaged the complexion of this team as well as the outcome of this season. Maybe he should be the MVP?



from the ravens webpage:

1. Owner Steve Bisciotti – when head coach John Harbaugh was hired as head football coach it was because of Steve Bisciotti. He was really the only one who was ready to make a ‘drastic’ change at the head coaching position, even after he had committed publicly to retaining Brian Billick a few weeks earlier. It was a needed move. Everything the Ravens have attained from that point on stems from his decision. Although I was admittedly concerned that Bisciotti would not let Harbaugh be Harbaugh, especially after his remark about keeping Ray Lewis for 2009 and beyond perhaps prematurely, it seems he has let Harbaugh run the team as he sees fit. Kudos to Steve Bisciotti for doing his job. The fans certainly deserved it. (Looming ticket increases for next year are another subject for another time)

http://www.profootball24x7.com/colum...0&view=archive

[Losac]

I was surprised at the amount of venom towards Bisciotti on these boards since the Billick firing. While I think it was certainly the right move, many felt it wasn't handled properly and all kinds of names like "Mr. Whimsy" started flying around.

Just look at Dallas to see how good we have it. An owner who upstages his own coach by holding simultaneous press conferences. It's a circus with Jones and no one knows what he's going to do next. Bisciotti generally does not speak to the media during the season and tries to keep the drama and locker room tensions in house where they belong.

He's not perfect, and while the Billick firing (albeit the correct decision) could have been handled better, I think we are blessed to have an owner like Bisciotti.

[RavinDonnie]

I am glad Biscotti was able to clean up the mess he created. He's the one that caused all the locker room problems to begin with letting his little boy toy Ray Lewis play GM and bring in his scum bag friends.

It seems like Steve's finally learned to keep his nose and hair plugs out of the locker room.

[HoustonRaven]

Losac is spot on.

Yeah, the handling of the BB firing could have been handled better, but the bigger picture is our current (and hopefully continued) success.

And do not fret about the ignorant trolls who want to slam him or anyone associated with Bisciotti. They clearly have zero grasp of any history related to this team / franchise.

Well said, Galen!

[Merlin]

Bisciotti gets a lot of credit for making the difficult decision last year - and the whole organization has been in sync this year.

The mark of a great leader is how they can change their views when it comes apparent that the prior approach isn't working. If you watch "America's game" show on the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, you can easily see how Billick fell in love with his Super Bowl formula (style, play calling, etc) - and unfortunately, over the next 7 years couldn't really change his approach.
I give Bisciotti a lot of credit for changing his mind about Billick and think that we are putting in a foundation for a great 7 year run.

The critical issues will come in the offseason. The rubber will hit the road with the resigning of free agents, who replaces Rex Ryan and in particular the signing of Ray Lewis. I thought that Bisciotti boxed himself in a corner last year in how he treated Ray publicly. Hopefully, we can get to a place where we can pay Ray what it takes to stay here without bad repercussions on salary cap and our ability to build a durable championship squad.

[ravenwoman]

We have a better coached team this year and our team is much improved because of the draft picks, the free agent signings, and the changed attitute that John Harbaugh has brought to the team.

Because Steve Bisciotti is a calculated risk taker and was willing to do something that most people couldn't do (fire Billick after signing him for 4 years and being on the hook for the $15 Million), we are in a much better place this year. He knows when to act and when to step away. He doesn't act like a know-it-all like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder. He hires great people and lets them do their job.

I am not worried about the off season. Every successful club loses good coaches and players, because other teams want to be like us. It is our system that keeps us strong and successful even after others leave us. That is why teams like Pittsburgh and New England have enjoyed years of success. Hopefully we are in that class as well.