CLEVELAND (AP) -- George Seifert and Carmen Policy are now vacation buddies. And while sitting poolside in Mexico or fishing in British Columbia, the two reminisce about their glory days in San Francisco.

Or about the time Seifert almost left the 49ers to coach the Cleveland Browns.

Seifert, in his first year as Carolina's coach, and Policy, the Browns' president, will get a chance to visit again this weekend when the Panthers (3-6) play the Browns (2-8).

They'll be on opposite sidelines Sunday. But it wasn't long ago that Seifert and Policy were side-by-side with the 49ers, reigning over the NFL.

"It was a lot of fun, and yet very trying at times," Seifert said.

With Policy as his boss during most of his coaching tenure, Seifert compiled a league record .755 winning percentage with the 49ers and took them to two Super Bowl titles in eight seasons.

But consecutive first-round playoff losses in 1995 and '96 led to talk that Seifert's job was in jeopardy, and it was no secret Policy wanted to make a coaching change.

Seifert made it easy. He retired from football and took a job as a television commentator for CBS before returning to the sideline this season with the Panthers.

Working for the competitive Policy in San Francisco was a pressure cooker, Seifert said. But he holds no grudges and has remained very close to his former boss.

"I consider Carmen one of my good friends," Seifert said. "We worked through a very exciting, and at times a very difficult situation in San Francisco. I guess I say this (Carolina) is exhilarating, there were times when that was extremely exhilarating."

When Policy took the Browns' job, he said he never bothered asking Seifert about coaching the expansion team.

"We worked together for so long that I think we had had enough of each other," Policy said. "As much as I love George, we had literally been through it all in San Francisco. Plus, I thought he was at a point in his career when he really wanted to be part of something a little more stable than the start of a new franchise."

Seifert agreed that reuniting with Policy in Cleveland was not the right place for him to make his NFL return.

"We'd been there, done that," the 59-year-old Seifert said. "When you have a new franchise, the age of a coach and where he might be in his career are things you certainly consider. I don't know. I just know this is an exciting job, and one that I'm enjoying right now."

The only downside for Seifert in Carolina has been the losing. He entered the '99 season with the best overall winning percentage (.765) in NFL history, but has since dropped to third.

"With our record this year, Vince Lomardi has passed me," joked Seifert, whose .730 percentage trails Lombardi (.740) and John Madden (.731).

If not for a thunderstorm and a phone call from Policy, Seifert could have become the Browns' coach in 1989.

After San Francisco won the '88 Super Bowl under Bill Walsh, Seifert, then a defensive coordinator, became a hot head coaching commodity. Former owner Art Modell wanted to interview him for the Browns' coaching vacancy and Seifert boarded a plane for Cleveland.

Policy had asked Seifert to postpone his trip for a day while awaiting a decision from Walsh about his coaching future with the Niners. Seifert didn't think Modell would wait, so he left.

"I told him, 'If you're going to Cleveland, please don't go non-stop,"' Policy recalled. "I figured that by the time he got to Dallas, I might have something to tell him."

A storm delayed his landing in Dallas, so to pass the time, Seifert called his wife, Linda, back in California.

"She told me Carmen had called," Seifert said, "and suggested to her I would be the next coach in San Francisco, to get on a plane and fly back, which I did."

Seifert's next phone call was to Policy who was in Pebble Beach, celebrating Walsh's appointment to the 49ers' front office.

"The maitre'd handed me the phone, and George said, 'Is it true?"' Policy said. "'And I said, 'George come home. You're our new coach. We'll have a press conference tomorrow."'

It's a tale the two friends enjoy sharing, and one that shaped the NFL for nearly a decade.

CAROLINA Season schedule and results

CLEVELAND Season schedule and results

September 12 @New Orleans L 10-19 September 19 Jacksonville L 20-22 September 26 Cincinnati W 27-3 October 3 @Washington L 36-38 October 17 @San Francisco W 31-29 October 24 Detroit L 9-24 October 31 @Atlanta L 20-27 November 7 Philadelphia W 33-7 November 14 @St. Louis L 10-35 November 21 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET November 28 Atlanta 8:20pm ET December 5 St. Louis 1:00pm ET December 12 @Green Bay 1:00pm ET December 18 San Francisco 4:15pm ET December 26 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm ET January 2 New Orleans 1:00pm ET

September 12 Pittsburgh L 0-43 September 19 @Tennessee L 9-26 September 26 @Baltimore L 10-17 October 3 New England L 7-19 October 10 Cincinnati L 17-18 October 17 @Jacksonville L 7-24 October 24 @St. Louis L 3-34 October 31 @New Orleans W 21-16 November 7 Baltimore L 9-41 November 14 @Pittsburgh W 16-15 November 21 Carolina 1:00pm ET November 28 Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 5 @San Diego 4:15pm ET December 12 @Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 19 Jacksonville 1:00pm ET December 26 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

Copyright 1999 STATS, Inc. Commercial distribution without the express written consent of STATS is prohibited.