In his lengthiest interview since initially taking over the team, Bisciotti talked yesterday with Sun reporter Jamison Hensley at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., about his faith in quarterback Kyle Boller, his support of coach Brian Billick and his expectation to reach the playoffs for the first time in his ownership.
What's your favorite part about being an owner?
Winning. I've gotten a lot more involved in the offseason stuff. I really like the business side of it. I love the personnel evaluations and the draft preparation. I've been focusing on that more.
What's the worst part?
Losing. It's hard to imagine if you're a passionate fan that someone can care more about a big win or a big loss. I live with that with Maryland basketball. I'm a great fan, but I always sensed that it got to Gary [Williams, coach] more than me. It's kind of hard to put into words. Your competence is called into question when you lose, where my competence isn't called into question when the Terps lose.
You are frequently at the Ravens' training complex. What's your level of participation in football matters?
I have opinions about things, and I'm definitely going to have my opinion heard. I see things from a different perspective. With some of these guys - Brian and Ozzie [Newsome, general manager] - it's kind of the "forest through the trees" syndrome. They are so close [to the team] that sometimes I can bring a different perspective. I care as much, but the pressure isn't on me like it is on them. Sometimes it helps them to hear my point of view.
Are you more hands-on as an owner than what you originally wanted?
No. What I've been focused on is the organizational flow. It's not necessarily changing the people's decisions but trying to change the process that they partake in. Everybody has the same authority they had before I got involved. I'm just trying to change the communication in the building to a model that I think is a little more effective. For instance, I think it is imperative that Brian cares about the scout's opinion on what he's doing. It doesn't take the power away from Brian; it just gives him more arrows in his quiver to make decisions that are in the best interest of the team.
Your communication style has often been described as a "heated" one by those within the Ravens' organization. Would you agree?
I know my two sons would agree with you. I am a Type-A personality, so I can certainly get infected by my emotions and wear them on my sleeve. I'm a happy-go-lucky guy 90 percent of the time.
How did you conduct your evaluation of Billick?
When you lose, you are required to turn over every rock and see if there are ways that we can improve. Dick [Cass, team president], Ozzie and I sat down during the season and asked, "What do we want to do?" People call for heads when you lose. I was determined not to be influenced by that sort of pressure. I don't know how we'll ever build a first-class organization if we're willing to throw the coach and the quarterback under the bus the minute we underachieve. Underachievement comes from a lot of different avenues such as injuries. To turn that on your coach and say he's a failure, it's not my style and not a healthy way to run a business. I don't want people to come to work worried about their job security. I just want them to be open to listen and learn and get perspective from everyone else.
Was there a point where the decision regarding Billick could have gone the other way?
Absolutely. That's why we felt it was important to include Brian in that process and to tell him there were things we wanted him to change.
Even though Billick survived, are you concerned that he will now be perceived as a lame-duck coach?
It bothers me, but it's something completely out of my control. As long as we're communicating effectively internally, I can't worry about what other people think. For every person that has an opinion on talk radio, there is somebody driving along 695 totally disagreeing with him. The vocal minority is going to be out there saying Kyle isn't good enough to be a quarterback and Brian isn't good enough to be a coach. We just have to be happy with what we're doing and be pleased with each other. When that changes, we've got to change our personnel. I think we're going in the right direction, and we'll be rewarded with our patience, honesty and communication.
Is it difficult not to be influenced by your fan base?
At the risk of sounding disrespectful, I'm not influenced by them. I can't be. What goes on in the public and what goes on in the second floor of the complex is two different worlds. I listen and I process. But at the end of the day, we have to be comfortable working with each other. If we start out losing, Brian is going to be on the proverbial hot seat. That's a shame, because I think it becomes a distraction and negatively influences your team. If we start out winning, it's going to be a distant memory. I hope and I pray that we win, because I want him to be our head coach for a long time and I don't want him to have to go through that again.
If the team has a bad start, is there any circumstance in which Billick would be fired at midseason?
It won't happen. That just won't happen.
What's your assessment of Boller?
Across the league, quarterbacks are not usually judged as harshly as Kyle has been judged. Though we realize that it's in our best interest to create competition for Kyle, we haven't lost faith in him. We believe he's going to come back better and smarter. I'm still holding out hope that a lot of these guys who are doing well in the league didn't do well their first few years. I think we'd be wrong to judge Kyle and just start over. I think he has shown flashes and maturity. If we can get some competition for him, I think it's good for the Ravens in general. We believe there is a chance that Kyle could emerge as a solid starter in this league.
Are you concerned about linebacker Ray Lewis' dissatisfaction with his contract?
Every single player on our team has had their agent call Ozzie Newsome and ask for a new contract when they play well. I'm still waiting on the call from the agent that says my guy wants to give back some of that money because he played poorly. Ray is going to be 31 in May, and he realizes that he has four good years left. So it doesn't surprise me that he says, "Let's get back to the [negotiating] table and give me what I deserve." I don't begrudge Ray for wanting to do that, and I don't think he begrudges Ozzie. It's just part of the business. We want Ray to retire as a Raven. But Ray has every right to spend some of his offseason thinking about Ray Lewis. Ray is still one of the greatest examples of a team player and a leader.
You recently visited Lewis in Florida. Did you sense he was unhappy with the team?
Yes, but a lot of that comes from losing. If he was standing on the podium [at the Super Bowl] last year or the year before, I don't think it would be the case. Losing creates frustration and a lot of introspection on everybody's part. Ray deserves to see if there are better options out there and make suggestions to us accordingly. He's earned that right.
What are your expectations for this season?
We think we have the personnel to win again. I have learned that there is a very fine line between being 6-10 and 10-6. I think there is a very good chance that we could find ourselves back in the playoff hunt. We certainly expect to. By no means are we in a rebuilding mode. We have an incredible core group of former Pro Bowlers with [Terrell] Suggs and [Ed] Reed. We have to stay healthy, and we've got to let those guys develop. I think we could surprise some people this year just like we surprised them by losing last year.
jamison.hensley@baltsun.com