Jan. 4, 2000 By Len Pasquarelli SportsLine Senior Writer

Within hours of Bill Belichick's abrupt resignation on Tuesday from the New York Jets, his attorney already was conducting discussions with high-ranking NFL officials, SportsLine has learned. The talks were aimed at clarifying the coach's status and also seeking a resolution that might free Belichick from his Jets contract and allow him to pursue the vacancy with the New England Patriots or other coaching openings.

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Two NFL officials and a source close to Belichick told SportsLine late Tuesday night that Cleveland-based attorney and agent Neil Cornrich spoke at least once earlier in the day with league executive vice president and legal counsel Jeffrey Pash. One league source said the discussion was "mostly fact-finding" and noted a resolution to the situation is not imminent.

"We're dealing with an unusual deal here," said the league source. "This is a different kind of game, this one, you know?"

The game is still football but, in describing how the soap opera that has entangled two coaches named Bill and two old rival franchises whose names each begin with "New" might unfold in the next few days, a second league official actually selected a Yogi Berra-ism to predict a denouement for the coaching mess.

"It is," said the official, "déjà vu all over again."

The reference was to the 1997 resolution of Bill Parcells' acrimonious exit from New England. In a move that freed Parcells from his contract with the Pats and permitted him to relocate to the Jets, commissioner Paul Tagliabue ruled that New York had to compensate New England with a third- and fourth-round draft choice in 1997, a second-rounder in '98 and a first-round pick in 1999.

In a scenario rich with irony, the Patriots now might offer the Jets draft choice compensation for the man who would have succeeded Parcells, the reluctant-head-coach-to-be, Belichick. Then again, from what one high-ranking Patriots official told SportsLine late Tuesday night, they might not.

Confused? Well, then get in a line that grows longer with each twist of the interstate that separates New York and Boston, and count on having to wait a while for an explanation.

Certainly the events of Tuesday, in which Belichick resigned a head coaching position to which he'd been appointed only 28 hours earlier, proved that nothing is what it appears to be when it comes to redefining the already intense acrimony between the Jets and Patriots.

Consider for a moment the conflicted emotions of Jets president Steve Gutman. At precisely 2:33 Tuesday afternoon, Gutman stood in the auditorium at the team's Weeb Ewbank Hall headquarters, maybe 100 feet from the podium where Belichick was to address the media for the first time as Jets coach. But as Belichick walked toward the lectern, he handed Gutman a single sheet of paper on which he'd scrawled a resignation notice. "Mr. Gutman," he said, "you've been very good to me and I appreciate it. I'm sorry."

And then in front of an assemblage anticipating Belichick's debut "State of the Jets" address, the longtime Parcells confidant created a state of chaos. In the old cold war-era movie, Fail Safe, the island of Manhattan is destroyed by a bomb purposely detonated by the United States president. This time, the Jets president and all of New York had the bomb dropped on them by Belichick, who announced that he could not accept the Jets head coaching reins.

SportsLine first reported Monday evening that an ostensibly seamless transition of power from Parcells to Belichick earlier that day might have appeared to be a cut-and-dried affair but certainly included some cutthroat elements. The events which led to Belichick's promotion, SportsLine noted, might eventually have New England owner Bob Kraft request Tagliabue investigate the matter and review Belichick's contract.

SportsLine was one of several media outlets to note that Belichick was less than happy about the transfer of power, to which he was contractually bound. SportsLine also reported that the Patriots did not yet consider the pursuit of Belichick a dead issue.

There were strong indications Tuesday night, however, that the resolve of Kraft and the Patriots might now be wavering a bit. Speculation was that the Patriots were preparing to propose to the league a package of draft picks that might convince the Jets to grant permission to talk with Belichick. But a team official said Tuesday that there were "some definite limits" to how far Kraft might go to land Belichick, with whom he has a strong relationship.

The team official said that, after internal discussions, it appeared Kraft does not want to part with any of the team's high-round choices in the immediate future. Said one source close to Kraft: "There's no doubt that he would love to have (Belichick), but even he is questioning how much he wants to fight this. There is a feeling that, as good as Belichick would be for this team, it just might be easier to move on. This affair could be a mess for a while. Is it wise to prolong our coaching search while this thing plays out? That's a question only (Kraft) can answer."

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