COUNTERPOINT : Patriots Losing a Man With the Right Qualities

When Victor Kiam recovers from the rookie ownership jitters and becomes advanced in the ways of pro football, he belatedly will discover the ideal requirements for a head coach include being knowledgeable of the fundamentals, steeped in the kind of values that never go out of fashion, and having an ability to communicate in a trusting way with players.

What an embarrassment it will be for Kiam to eventually learn he had just such a man but permitted the general manager of the New England Patriots, one Patrick Sullivan, to fire him.

The NFL is poorer today without Raymond Berry. His discharge came about over a most regrettable situation. He was informed by Sullivan to hire what he, Sullivan, perceived as the proper offensive and defensive coordinators. But Berry’s contract gave him control of the football operation, so Sullivan put himself illegally in motion.

As a matter of record, the Patriots of 1989 led the NFL in number of players on the injured-reserve list. They had an unprecedented number, 19, and the club with the next-closest total had 11. The average per squad was five. So the Patriots were hit harder than any franchise in a 5-11 season.

Berry doesn’t curse, rant, rave, drink, make excuses, show up players or engage in the cheap con that is so typical of too many football coaches. On the sidelines, he won’t scream at officials and make them the whipping boys or, when the game is over, decry the breaks that went against his team.

Berry leaves the Patriots after 5 1/2 seasons with the best record--48-39--that any of nine coaches compiled in the history of the franchise, along with a trip to the Super Bowl in 1985.

Berry, as might be expected, didn’t put the knock on Sullivan or Kiam. He left quietly and with dignity.