Kirk Ferentz figured he was going out of responsibility more than anything.

He’d received the call in the winter of 1993. Browns head coach Bill Belichick beckoned, wishing to interview Ferentz for the team’s OL coaching job. A friend Ferentz believed to be the first choice of Belichick had dropped Ferentz’s name in the form of a recommendation.

It turned out that friend, Tom Bresnahan — the Bills’ OL coach under Marv Levy who interviewed with Belichick in 1991 — was, perhaps unknowingly, clearing room for Ferentz’s career to take off.

“Knowing Bill,” Ferentz alleges to this day, “because he takes notes on everything, Tom probably mentioned my name in their conversation back then. Bill came back to it later and decided to check into it.”

The only time Ferentz, now the head coach at Iowa, exhaled during his trip to the Browns’ Berea, Ohio, facility was on his return trek to the airport, when his chauffeur was pro personnel assistant and current Belichick right-hand man Scott Pioli.

“That interview was a lesson in detail,” Ferentz said. “The whole process was a workout in itself. I went home frazzled, tail between my legs. Scott told me, ‘I’m sure you did better than you think. It will work out.’ ”

Pioli had been with Belichick for a little more than a year at the time, but Pioli turned out to be quite prophetic, seemingly already in tune with his boss’ cerebral patterns. Ferentz, a 17-year coaching veteran and the head coach at Maine when Belichick called, had also worked under Ted Marchibroda and Jackie Sherrill, but Ferentz got the big break coaches look for from Belichick. So did Nick Saban, who ran Belichick’s defense in Cleveland and has achieved great success as Michigan State's and now LSU's head coach. And Pat Hill, a special-assignment scout in Cleveland who now leads nationally recognized Fresno State. And Phil Savage, George Kokinis, Terry McDonough and Pioli, who started as low men on the totem poll in the scouting department to climb to various levels of personnel and management in the NFL. And Mike Sheppard, an offensive assistant in 1993 who climbed to the offensive coordinator position with Buffalo in 2001. 

Pioli and Savage will garner general manager attention this offseason as top personnel posts are vacated. Savage could have had the top job in Jacksonville last season, but head coach Jack Del Rio would have had significant input and Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver low-balled Savage by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Savage remained in Baltimore, where Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome promoted him to pro personnel director when James Harris left to take the Jaguars’ job. And, surprise, it was Belichick who gave Newsome a job in personnel in Cleveland in 1991, where Newsome was also an offensive assistant.

“If a guy like myself were to go back in the league, we’d be ready because of Bill,” said Hill, who still speaks to Belichick on a semi-regular basis. “The preparation you get from (Belichick) is the preparation you need to be a head coach. Nick Saban and Kirk Ferentz will be very successful in that league. They know how to work in that environment because of Bill.”

With each victory that the Patriots tally, the likelihood of Pioli climbing out of Belichick’s shadow and into a GM job increases. Whether Pioli walks into a situation where his input and involvement will be necessary in hiring a new head coach is a different story. Rest assured, the loyalty and commitment Belichick has instilled will lead Pioli to a familiar face. It may only be a matter of whether Pioli is picking up Ferentz or Saban at the local airport.

Observatory

• There are two unheralded teams you don’t want to face right now — Baltimore and St. Louis. The Ravens scored 44 points for the second week in a row and haven’t surrendered a touchdown to two of their last three opponents. The Ravens-Bengals meeting this week is for the lead in the AFC North. St. Louis is looking like the Rams of old, and not just on offense. QB Marc Bulger had a nice bounce-back game under center, and RB Marshall Faulk has three 100-yard games in a row since returning in Week 11 from a broken hand and knee surgery. The Rams had two one-play scoring drives in Sunday’s drubbing of the Vikings, and the defense is for real — speed everywhere, which makes up for a lack of size inside, and an underrated back seven. If the Rams, currently the No. 2 seed in the NFC behind Philadelphia, get home-field advantage, they may be playing Feb. 1 in Houston.

• Speaking of St. Louis, nobody rides the officials like Rams head coach Mike Martz. Martz has been complaining, almost non-stop, since Bulger’s slide began at San Francisco Week 10, that WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt were being held, pulled and interfered with on a play-by-play basis. Those gripes aren’t falling on deaf ears. On at least two calls Sunday, the Rams received generous interference calls, one on Vikings RCB Ken Irvin flanking Holt to sustain a drive.

• On the flip side, the Vikings have the look of an exasperated team. From head coach Mike Tice down, this team appears to be spent. It has six days to get it together and stop masquerading as a contender by fixing its defense and getting QB Daunte Culpepper’s game together. Culpepper has 10 turnovers in the last three games.

• Outside of Colts PK Mike Vanderjagt, have field-goal kickers, as a whole, been less reliable since before the days of the old straight-on kickers? The extra point is no longer automatic, and field goals are a study in unsteadiness. Vanderjagt, though, has been criticized within Indianapolis for missing clutch kicks. You’ll recall past playoff misfires and more recently his OT miss at Tampa Bay that was canceled because Tampa Bay DE Simeon Rice was penalized for jumping into a teammate's back to block the kick.

• From a limited pool of the teams who aren’t flying under the radar but remain in playoff contention, the Eagles have been all money since their bye week during Week Three. Then 0-2 and sputtering in the face of injuries and the bevy of Donovan McNabb distractions (Rush Limbaugh, thumb injury, fans and media questioning the validity of his star status), the Eagles had their backs against the proverbial wall. Excluding a Week Six one-point loss at Dallas, when head coach Andy Reid’s opening onside kickoff was returned for a touchdown by Randal Williams, spotting the Cowboys a seven-point lead, the Eagles have been perfect since recuperating during that bye.

McNabb threw his first interception in more than 120 attempts on Sunday’s opening possession at Carolina, but he was resilient, maintained an even keel, and ended up putting the Panthers away with a 29-yard throw to TE Chad Lewis on 3rd-and-9 at the Carolina 46 with 3:26 remaining that led to David Akers' clinching field goal in the final minute. This week, the Eagles will be favored against Dallas, with a chance to all but lock up first place in the NFC East and maintain the inside track for home field throughout the conference playoffs. It’s hard not to like the been-there-done-that Eagles.

• As we said last week, turn up the volume on the pub machine for Saints RB Deuce McAllister. But there are more individuals being overlooked than hyped. One player rowing up the same stream as McAllister is Patriots QB Tom Brady. On a team of no-names and role players — a refreshing idea in itself — Brady is separating himself along with Peyton Manning and Steve McNair as an MVP candidate. Two of Brady’s top four receivers in Sunday’s win had been cut by other teams this season. He’s relying on versatile scatback Kevin Faulk in the running game and working behind an undertalented offensive line. To be sure, Manning, McNair and, for those who champion Trent Green, have more talent around them than Brady.
 
• The belief that non-playoff teams that turn in strong showings, especially in the closing weeks of the season, are in line for good things the following season point to the Vikings’ and Panthers’ turnarounds as evidence. We submit Jacksonville, which has pushed toward respectability in the last month, as an early potential playoff contender in 2004. The Jaguars will be picking in the top 10 of April's draft and have built a stingy defense and balanced offense for the future. The only thing holding them back is how strong the rest of the AFC South combatants may be next season, with 2003 Super Bowl hopefuls Tennessee and Indianapolis and a building threat coming from the Texans. This division, with QBs Steve McNair, Manning, Byron Leftwich and David Carr, could become the class of the league in a hurry.
 
• It may get worse before it gets better in San Francisco. Dennis Erickson is facing a decision that may define his second stint as an NFL head coach after QB Jeff Garcia returned to the starting lineup and threw four interceptions in a butt-whipping at Baltimore. Backup Tim Rattay, 2-1 as a starter with Garcia out, had been very accurate, got rid of the ball quickly and spread the ball around to several receivers. Garcia is an instinctual player in the pocket, but instead of checking down, he tucks the ball and runs or tries to make something out of nothing when pressured. At 5-7, the Niners are on the playoff bubble, but winning their final four games may be good enough to get them into the postseason. With Garcia at the helm, we have more questions about the Niners than we do with Rattay running things.

• A reach to be sure, but consider this: with the Packers and Vikings on the Bears’ schedule in the next two weeks, the Bears could head into their Week 15 game vs. Minnesota with first place in the NFC North on the line. Yeah, the 5-7 Bears would have to beat the Packers at Lambeau Field this week and the Vikings would have to lose at home to Seattle. But if those two things happen, a Bears win would put Chicago in a tie for the top spot in the division. Forget that Brett Favre is 19-4 all-time against the Bears and has won six straight against the Chicagoans. It can happen, OK?