HOUSTON -- If Romeo Crennel was bitter, it would be understandable. Instead, he's optimistic.
If Crennel was frustrated, it would be understandable. Instead, he's patient.
If Crennel was depressed, it would be understandable. Instead, he's enthusiastic.
What's hard to understand is how, with seven head-coaching jobs up for grabs in the NFL, Crennel didn't land one of them.
Consider his credentials: He is defensive coordinator for a unit that allowed the fewest number of points of any team in the league -- an average of just 14.9 per game, which also happens to be a franchise record.
In their last six regular-season games in Gillette Stadium, the Patriots allowed just one touchdown. They had three shutouts -- against Dallas, Miami, and Buffalo.
With only one returning starter in the defensive backfield -- all-pro cornerback Ty Law -- Crennel's re-tooled secondary led the league in interceptions, with 29, held opposing quarterbacks to league-low, 56.2 rating, and allowed fewer touchdown passes (11) than any team in the NFL.
Prior to the AFC Championship Game, everybody was raving about the Indianapolis offense and the passing of Peyton Manning. The New England defense intercepted Manning four times, forced five turnovers and allowed the Colts just two touchdowns.
Now consider Crennel's résumé: This is his fifth Super Bowl. He was defensive coordinator two years ago when the Patriots stunned the high-scoring Rams, limiting the wide-open St. Louis offense -- billed as The Greatest Show on Turf -- to just 17 points. Crennel was defensive line coach under Bill Parcells when the Pats won the AFC title in 1996. He held that same post under Parcells in 1990, when the Giants beat Denver in Super Bowl XXV, and was special teams coach in 1986 when Parcells' Giants edged Buffalo in Super Bowl XXI.
Crennel has been coaching in the NFL for 23 years. If ever there was a year when it seemed he might finally get the chance to be a head coach, this was it, with openings in Washington, Arizona, Oakland, Buffalo, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York, with the Giants.
Crennel was interviewed for five of those jobs. He didn't get any of them.
Four coaches were recycled. The legendary Joe Gibbs came out of retirement and off the NASCAR circuit to rejoin the Redskins. Tom Coughlin took over in New York, where he had been an assistant under Parcells before becoming head coach at Boston College, and then the first coach of the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. Former Vikings coach Dennis Green was hired by the Cardinals, and former Redskins coach Norv Turner was hired by the Raiders.
While Green had been a winner in Minnesota, Turner had a losing record in seven seasons with the Skins. But Oakland owner Al Davis had said he wanted to hire an offensive-oriented coach.
Mike Mularkey, who was offensive coordinator for the Steelers, was hired by the Bills, whose GM, Tom Donahoe, worked in Pittsburgh before moving to Buffalo. San Francisco's defensive coordinator, Jim Mora Jr., whose father was defensive coordinator in New England in 1982 before becoming head coach of the Saints, and then the Colts, got the job in Atlanta. Lovie Smith, the defensive coordinator in St. Louis, was hired by the Bears.
While those coaches have jobs Crennel would like to have, he is where they'd all like to be this week -- at the Super Bowl. Again.
The question is, how many more times will he have to get there before gets a job as a head coach?.
It was a question he was asked yesterday while sitting in the stands at Reliant Stadium, where the Pats will take on the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Sunday.
"I'm getting closer," he said. "I did have five interviews. That exposure and experience helps."
While it must bother Crennel that he always seems to wind up as a bridesmaid, he doesn't let it show.
"There's nothing I can really do about it," he said. "It's something I can't control. I just try to do my job and continue to win."
Crennel's players have mixed feelings about his job prospects. While they'd like to see him have a chance to become a head coach, they also know their chances of winning are high as long as he's working for Bill Belichick in New England.
"Being greedy," Pats cornerback Tyrone Poole said, "I'd rather see him stay here."
"He's done a great job," said veteran linebacker Willie McGinest. "I'm pretty sure that, if the right opportunity presents itself for him, he'll have his chance. Right now, I don't think he's concerned about any other job opportunities."
When Crennel was younger, opportunities were rare for black assistants to become head coaches. Now, at 56, he may be facing discrimination because of his age, rather than his skin color.
But, despite his recent rejections and disappointments, Crennel hasn't given up hope that he'll someday get his chance.
"It's not going to happen this year," he said. "Next year, who knows?"
