SJ_Browns Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/articl...ca-baf77ef1da80 By Matt Florjancic, Contributor to ClevelandBrowns.com From his days at USC and with the Rams to his time in Green Bay and Seattle, Gil Haskell has been used to one thing...winning. When Gil Haskell left the position of tight ends/special teams coach with Los Angeles Rams in 1992 to become the Packers’ running backs coach, he viewed the decision not only as a transition to a new NFL city but also a chance to work alongside his good friend, Mike Holmgren. Haskell spent six seasons with the Packers, including the final three as wide receivers coach. During that time in Green Bay, Haskell worked with NFL-record setting quarterback Brett Favre, wide receiver Antonio Freeman and running back Dorsey Levens, among other standout players. He also got to watch part of the career of eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Reggie White. Although watching and teaching all of the great players in the Packers organization was a thrill for Haskell, the one moment he enjoyed the most came in a dome more than 18 hours and 1,100 miles from the bitterly cold winters of Green Bay. At Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, the Packers earned a 35-21 win over the Patriots. “It’s a wonderful feeling and it doesn’t hit you until maybe Tuesday or Wednesday when you’re back in your office and you walk through the building and see the trophy in the building because you’re so tired,” Haskell recalled. “That’s why it doesn’t hit you. The season is long and then, we were doing well at the end of the season. Then, you have a couple playoff games and you’re trying so hard to win that game. Then, you win it and you go, ‘Man, we get one more game and we’re going to the Super Bowl, but you can’t think about it. There’s no way I can think about it.’ Then, you win it and you’ve got a week off. “You stay in Green Bay for a week and put your whole gameplan in that week because when you get to New Orleans, there’s too much going on, too much distraction,” he added. “Everything has to be in and that’s a credit to Mike and being with Bill Walsh with the 49ers because they had been through it before. He knew how to prepare for that game. You get most of your work done back at your own place. Every Super Bowl should be in New Orleans because once you get there, you don’t need a car. You can walk to every place you want to go and it is a magnificent, wonderful circus. To play the game, so many things happened. It was just wild.” Haskell’s wide receivers played a big role in Green Bay’s win, as did the game’s Most Valuable Player, kick/punt returner Desmond Howard. Freeman caught 3 passes for 105 yards, including 1 he took 81 yards for a touchdown. Andre Rison had 2 receptions for 77 yards and a 54-yard score. Once his time with the Packers came to an end, Haskell moved on and became the Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 1998 and 1999. “You’ve got to prepare for it,” he said. “Many guys never thought they would be a coordinator or didn’t expect it and they’re overwhelmed by it. I coached special teams with the Rams and so I ran a group of men myself. Then, I was a running backs coach at L.A. and Green Bay. You know line-blocking, you know back pick-ups on passes. So you learn that and now as a receivers coach, you’re teaching the guys how to run the routes, protect the ball and all that kind of stuff. All the time, you’re thinking, ‘How would I call this game or how would I do this.’ “Then, I had a chance to go to Carolina and my second year, we did great,” continued Haskell. “We were the sixth-best offense, but the third-best passing team. (Steve) Beuerlein had a great year and we ran the Green Bay Packers passing offense. I installed it the first year, installed it the second year. I knew it worked and the guys trusted me; the coaches trusted me. They bought into it and once they bought into it, it went to the players and they did a great job. I had a wonderful coaching staff too. The guys that coached with me were great. You’ve got to have all those parts. You can’t do it by yourself.” Haskell went from Carolina to the Seahawks, where he rejoined Holmgren and became his offensive coordinator. In his first season with the Seahawks, they led the AFC and were second in the NFL in red zone efficiency, scoring points on 60.9 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line. The offense continued to produce results, especially with the development of running back Shaun Alexander combined with Ricky Watters. Following a switch from the AFC to the NFC for 2002, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck emerged as a star in the NFL. He and Alexander joined offensive linemen Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones in the Pro Bowl following the 2003 season. Haskell had a seven-year stretch where he sent at least one Seahawks player to the Pro Bowl. On many occasions, more than one Seahawks player was an NFL all-star and Alexander was also honored with the Associated Press NFL Player of the Year/MVP award following the 2005 season. “It’s a tough job, a very difficult job and there is no school you can go to, to learn how to call a game,” he said. “There’s no right way or wrong way. I learned that as I started watching people. After I’ve done it and I can step away from it, there is no specific way of doing it, but you must have your own way and must be really, really convinced that your way is correct.” After leaving the Seahawks, Haskell was away from the game for the 2009 season. However, when Holmgren accepted the responsibility as President of the Browns, he added Haskell to the staff as Senior Advisor to the President. Haskell likes the opportunity he has earned with the Browns, especially when he gets the chance to talk with Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. “It’s a great relationship,” he concluded. “It’s a very open relationship between the two of us and meeting him, I expect him to do very well.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ_Browns Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 i'm glad to know that this guy is working with daboll on the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gips Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 If there was ever a reason to hope dumboll could actually learn how to operate the offense as an OC haskell is it, same for manfooli if there was ever a time that this twit could learn how to be a real coach its with holmgren and haskell at his service...the real question is are these 2 numb-skulls to thick to get it and use it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownsBacker85 Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 If there was ever a reason to hope dumboll could actually learn how to operate the offense as an OC haskell is it, same for manfooli if there was ever a time that this twit could learn how to be a real coach its with holmgren and haskell at his service...the real question is are these 2 numb-skulls to thick to get it and use it... Come on now with the name calling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ_Browns Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Come on now with the name calling! i'm going to take a wild guess and say that gips isn't too fond of mangini and daboll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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