Well, Christmas came a few days late for some in Ravens nation — Head Coach Brian Billick was fired today, less than 24 hours removed from the conclusion of the 2007 season. You can imagine my surprise when I returned home from the grocery store with oodles of booze for tonight’s New Year’s Eve festivities and flipped on the NFL Network — I was floored.

Good thing I picked up plenty of champagne. I’ve got a lot of stuff to toast this evening.

Not shocked in the least bit, Billick released a statement shortly after being let go. From WBAL:

“It has been a great ride with the Ravens and the fans here. My family and I have grown to love this area, and this is where we will continue to live.

“I’ve always bragged that this is the best organization, and it is because of the people here. They are the most competent. They made my job easier because of the support they give to make sure the focus is always about finding a way to win. In particular, my relationship with Ozzie Newsome is special. I think the way we worked is the way coaching and personnel should. I’ll miss our scrimmaging about how to make things work for the team.

“The passion, the dedication and the willingness to work by the players is so appreciated. Even in this difficult season, they fought through it. My respect for the players - every single one who has played for the Ravens in the last 9 years - is hard to articulate. They have my complete respect and admiration.

“I believe in the partnership that Steve Bisciotti has assembled. The process does work. I was part of that. He had to make a hard decision, and he did what he believes is best for the Ravens. We are friends and will remain friends.”

And Bisciotti’s statement about the 180 departure from “Brian Billick will return next season” type statements that were made earlier this season:

“I just changed my mind. I can’t explain it to you. It’s the toughest decision I’ve had to make.”

Earlier today, Mike Preston reported that Bisciotti sent some team employees to interview players about Billick. From the Sun story:

According to a report on Fox’s pre-game show, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti sent some team employees into the locker room to conduct interviews with players about whether coach Brian Billick had lost control of his team.

According to the report, Billick had, in fact, lost the players.

No shock there, but this decision is about money. Bisciotti will bring Billick back for one more season but force him to add an offensive coordinator.

Hopefully, that person won’t be a yes man for Billick, and the Ravens might be onto something. With a new offensive coordinator, there is a long-shot chance they might get left tackle Jonathan Ogden back for another season.

I’m not really shocked that Preston was wrong, but I honestly didn’t see this coming either. I thought that Bisciotti would see that it was a $15M decision and keep Billick around for another season and force him to turn over playcalling duties to an OC. Again, I’m floored (but excited) about the news.

Finally, rumors are running rampant that defensive coordinator Rex Ryan is the last man standing. Apparently, all of the coaches were summoned into a room with Bisciotti and Newsome. Rex Ryan was escorted out and all of the remaining coaches were fired.

The massacre at 1 Winning Drive has sparked a new era of Ravens football.

Media reactions:

• Baltimore Ravens (official site)
• Baltimore Sun
• Washington Post
• WBAL
• ESPN
• Fox Sports
• Sporting News
• MSNBC
• Examiner

Blog reactions:

• Ebony Bird
• Blogimore Ravens
• B’More Birds Nest
• Inside Charm City
• The Big Lead
• The Loss Column
• ExtremeRavens forums
• Die Hard Steel (speculation that Billick is headed to Atlanta)

Your turn:

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Edit: The post had so much traffic it brought down the entire Sports Cartel Blog Network server! Lawls…