Parcells: A Football Life (excerpt about Belichick leaving NYJ)

Silverdude2167

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It is an interesting read. (http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/10/15/bill-parcells-excerpt-bill-belichick-new-york-jets)
 
 
 
On the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 3, 2000, Bill Parcells announced his resignation from the Jets to the public, becoming the first head coach in franchise history to step down with a winning record: 30–20. He informed reporters that his defensive coordinator, Bill Belichick (whose contract from three years earlier ensured that he would take over whenever Parcells decided to leave), was empowered to make all football decisions, while Parcells himself would stay on as a confidant and consultant. And although the contract language lacked preciseness regarding ultimate authority, Parcells, still technically director of football operations at a $2.4 million salary, vowed not to overshadow Belichick. Big Bill insisted that thePatriots’ interest in hiring Little Bill -- they had sent a fax requesting permission to interview him -- was no factor in the development, although it certainly seemed to accelerate matters.
 
 
 
 
Parcells recalls, “He made a deal and then tried to get out of it. A deal’s a deal. You want out? You’re going to pay. Simple.”
 
 

Leather

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Parcells is a dick.  He tried to manipulate the deal to trap Bill from seeking greener pastures, and plays dumb.
 
Don't treat your employees like shit and they won't try to leave.
 

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Is there any doubt at all that Belichick was always going to be under Parcells' thumb if he took that NYJ job? Parcells would get all of the credit if the Jets won, and BB would take all of the crap if they lost. It was a lose-lose for Belichick and he damn well knew it.
 
History of course has proven that BB was 100% correct about the Jets' immediate future. Their ownership stunk and their organization stunk.
 

Leather

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Ralphwiggum said:
Wasn't Parcells still under contract with the Pats we he wanted to leave to go coach the Jets?
 
Yes.  Hence the multiple draft picks that were subsequently pissed away by Bobby Grier.
 
Not to mention:  Parcells was initially hired by the Jets as an "advisor" with Belichick hired as the Head Coach to circumvent the Patriots contract requirement that Parcells not coach elsewhere.  Belichick was going to be a puppet coach.  Then Tagliabue came in and arranged the compensation and cancellation of the contract.
 
Belichick's quitting of the Jets was a result of Parcells' second attempt to jerk him around for Parcells' own benefit.  There's no indication in their dealings with one another that Parcells thought of BB as anything other than a lacky.
 

soxfan121

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Parcells comes off as a bigger asshole in each successive re-telling of the story. 
 
Maybe this is the last book, right Willie?
 

Ed Hillel

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Ralphwiggum said:
Wasn't Parcells still under contract with the Pats we he wanted to leave to go coach the Jets?
 
Yes, there were stories he was talking with the Jets leading up to the Superbowl. It was an open secret he was leaving. He's an egomaniacal dick, and you just know it absolutely kills him that Belichick has surpassed him on every level of coaching.
 

lexrageorge

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What's funny is that Parcells himself left the Jets after one year, despite being under contract.  The team had an excellent draft in 2000:  Shaun Ellis, John Abraham, Chad Pennington, Laveranues Coles all became key players for years to come.  And Al Groh's departure the same time led to the Herm Edwards era, and the rest is history....
 
What's even funnier is that some in the NY media are still butt hurt over Belichick's departure, comparing it to the crime of the century.  
 

soxfan121

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kenneycb said:
How awesome would it have been if the Jets sold to Dolan instead of Johnson? 
 
I dunno. Woody is pretty fuckin incompetent. 
 

Ralphwiggum

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lexrageorge said:
What's funny is that Parcells himself left the Jets after one year, despite being under contract.  The team had an excellent draft in 2000:  Shaun Ellis, John Abraham, Chad Pennington, Laveranues Coles all became key players for years to come.  And Al Groh's departure the same time led to the Herm Edwards era, and the rest is history....
 
What's even funnier is that some in the NY media are still butt hurt over Belichick's departure, comparing it to the crime of the century.  
 
That's the funny part of this whole thing.  I'm sure when Parcells says what he said in that article about Belichick he means it in a way that is critical of BB.  But I'm sure Belichick gives zero fucks about it, and all it accomplishes is dragging Jets fans through the "what could have been" discussion for the umpteenth time.
 

Ed Hillel

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Oh, I missed this line at the end from Parcells:
 


Parcells says of Belichick (with whom he later rekindled his relationship, after six years of silence), “At the end of the day, he didn’t want to be the Jets’ head coach. Then he expected me as the general manager to just say, ‘OK, I’ll get somebody else.’ Well, eventually I did that. But I got compensation. I didn’t begrudge Bill getting another job somewhere else. In fact, I’m probably the one that got it for him.”
 
Man, that's so generous of him.
 

Silverdude2167

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Ed Hillel said:
Man, that's so generous of him.
In a sense he did get him the job.
Of course he got him the job by introducing Kraft to BB in 1996, with Kraft liking Belichick so much that he almost offered him the job when Parcells left (if I am remembering that correctly).
 

Ed Hillel

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Silverdude2167 said:
In a sense he did get him the job.
Of course he got him the job by introducing Kraft to BB in 1996, with Kraft liking Belichick so much that he almost offered him the job when Parcells left (if I am remembering that correctly).
 
Causally, he certainly did get him the job. It's just that the process of it involved Parcells screwing over the Patriots and Belichick initially.
 

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kenneycb said:
Yeah but I just picture Nolan turning them into the current incarnation of the Jaguars.
 
1. Shad Khan, the (fairly) new owner of Jacksonville is about 1,000,000,000 times more competent than Woody. Khan at least has experience running a successful business. Woody is an heiress who went to the University of Arizona. Not Arizona St., which as anyone can tell you, is a far better school.
 
2. The Jaguars have a more talented roster right now, despite having less wins. 
 
I think you're underestimating Woody's incompetence. Dolan would be better.
 

Ralphwiggum

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soxfan121 said:
 
1. Shad Khan, the (fairly) new owner of Jacksonville is about 1,000,000,000 times more competent than Woody. Khan at least has experience running a successful business. Woody is an heiress who went to the University of Arizona. Not Arizona St., which as anyone can tell you, is a far better school.
 
2. The Jaguars have a more talented roster right now, despite having less wins. 
 
I think you're underestimating Woody's incompetence. Dolan would be better.
 
Unintentionally awesome?
 

kenneycb

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soxfan121 said:
 
1. Shad Khan, the (fairly) new owner of Jacksonville is about 1,000,000,000 times more competent than Woody. Khan at least has experience running a successful business. Woody is an heiress who went to the University of Arizona. Not Arizona St., which as anyone can tell you, is a far better school.
 
2. The Jaguars have a more talented roster right now, despite having less wins. 
 
I think you're underestimating Woody's incompetence. Dolan would be better.
The Jets have had smatterings of success over Woody's reign.  The most notable thing about Dolan's reign is a second round exit and a sexual abuse scandal.
 

luckiestman

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This was a truly harrowing event for me. I really like Parcells and Belichick. I was fine with Parcells stepping down and Belichick as HC. The he went to the Pats (justifiably if I'm being honest). I can still see the presser in my mind. 
 

wutang112878

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Parcells is probably the best manipulator that the NFL has ever seen.  He manipulated his players into thinking they were good when they sucked and vice versa.  He could manipulate players by getting them angry and turning it into motivation ie Lawrence Taylor with the empty gas tank, or 'she is doing fine' with Terry Glenn.  But his best trick was manipulating all contract situations to benefit himself.  The NE & NYJ situations were good but his best ever was the Miami contract: "his deal included a onetime out clause that would allow him to walk away, with the rest of his $12 million guaranteed contract fully paid, no strings attached, if Huizenga were to sell the team."  In that regard the guy is impressive but also a complete ahole.
 
So in a shocking development he is manipulating the past to make himself seem or feel better.
 

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Don't forget Parcells reneging on an agreement with Hugh Culverhouse to coach the Bucs because Parcells' wife filed for divorce and he didn't want her getting a piece of his next coaching deal.
 

lexrageorge

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In the interest of being "fair and balanced":
 
We all loved Parcells when he joined the Patriots.  For those that started following the team in the past 15 years, it's really hard to describe what a joke the franchise had become over the previous 40.  Jerry Rice must be thanking his lucky stars the Pats traded down so they could nab Trevor Matich.  And it's not even clear that was the worst personnel move the team made.  Parcells really shifted how the organization was perceived by both players and fans.  And his press conferences were must see events; I know there's some folks that would love it if Belichick for once shouted "That's a dumb ass question; you're a jerk for asking that question".  
 
And I do recall lots of people being pissed at Kraft when Parcells left.  It wasn't until much later than the real stories regarding Parcells interviews the week before the Super Bowl.
 
Sure, Parcells was all about Parcells, first and foremost, and sometimes to the detriment of his legacy.  He's a jerk, but it was fun when he was "our jerk".  
 

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lexrageorge said:
In the interest of being "fair and balanced":
 
We all loved Parcells when he joined the Patriots.  For those that started following the team in the past 15 years, it's really hard to describe what a joke the franchise had become over the previous 40.  Jerry Rice must be thanking his lucky stars the Pats traded down so they could nab Trevor Matich.  And it's not even clear that was the worst personnel move the team made.  Parcells really shifted how the organization was perceived by both players and fans.  And his press conferences were must see events; I know there's some folks that would love it if Belichick for once shouted "That's a dumb ass question; you're a jerk for asking that question".  
 
And I do recall lots of people being pissed at Kraft when Parcells left.  It wasn't until much later than the real stories regarding Parcells interviews the week before the Super Bowl.
 
Sure, Parcells was all about Parcells, first and foremost, and sometimes to the detriment of his legacy.  He's a jerk, but it was fun when he was "our jerk".  
 
 
Would fans rather see entertaining press conferences, or wins? Parcells was here 4 years and had only 2 winning seasons. OK, the first one was a rebuild year, fair enough. But then he went 10-6, 6-10, 11-5. This is good but hardly otherwordly.
 
He took the team to the SB, which is great, but 1) he kinda lucked out a bit that year because Jacksonville beat the number 1 seed Denver in Denver, allowing the Pats as the number 2 seed to host the AFCCG, and 2) he spent all of SB week trying to land the Jets job instead of, you know, trying to win the fucking Super Bowl.
 
There's no need to try to be "fair and balanced." His efforts here are pretty clear for all to see.
 

soxfan121

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Pretty amazing that the Pats have had 3 coaches over the past 21 years:

Bill Belichick
Pete Carroll
Bill Parcells
 
And Pete sucked when he was here. The revisionist history on that is almost as bad as it is with Tuna.
 

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soxfan121 said:
Parcells comes off as a bigger asshole in each successive re-telling of the story. 
 
Maybe this is the last book, right Willie?
 
Exactly.
 
Great coach, super huge asshole. Maybe the same is true of BB. Whatever. Don't care.
 

mt8thsw9th

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kenneycb said:
Yeah but I just picture Dolan turning them into the current incarnation of the Jaguars.
 
So one fewer win?
 
The Jets have just three more wins since the Jaguars' inception, which is pretty awesome.
 

dynomite

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mt8thsw9th said:
So one fewer win?
 
The Jets have just three more wins since the Jaguars' inception, which is pretty awesome.
That's fantastic.

It's easy (at least for me) to forget how decent the Jaguars were under Brunnell, Leftwich, and Garrard. Hell, the 2007 Jags went 11-5 and gave the Patriots a real game.
 

Was (Not Wasdin)

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Old Fart Tree said:
 
Exactly.
 
Great coach, super huge asshole. Maybe the same is true of BB. Whatever. Don't care.
 
This.  
 
Parcells was hired by Orthwein, not Kraft.  I do not think it is unreasonable to say that Parcells' hiring and the drafting of Bledsoe stabilized the Patriots to allow the success we have seen over the last 15 years.  
 
This franchise was an utter shitshow before Parcells got here.  
 

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
 
 
Would fans rather see entertaining press conferences, or wins? Parcells was here 4 years and had only 2 winning seasons. OK, the first one was a rebuild year, fair enough. But then he went 10-6, 6-10, 11-5. This is good but hardly otherwordly.
 
He took the team to the SB, which is great, but 1) he kinda lucked out a bit that year because Jacksonville beat the number 1 seed Denver in Denver, allowing the Pats as the number 2 seed to host the AFCCG, and 2) he spent all of SB week trying to land the Jets job instead of, you know, trying to win the fucking Super Bowl.
 
There's no need to try to be "fair and balanced." His efforts here are pretty clear for all to see.
 
In the prior 4 seasons to his arrival they won 14 games. Specifically, you'd be hard pressed to find professional teams worse than the 1990 team that won one game and had a scoring differential of -265. The 1992 team under Dick McPherson (Who entertained everyone by bear hugging his QB after the 8 games his teams won) had turned it around to two wins and -158. The only national headlines the team had were centered around sexually harassing a female reporter and who they would draft with the number one pick. The franchise had zero juice when he took over. The fans understandably were repulsed by what they had become, games became regular blackouts on TV, and the team was used as a punching bag by the media. There are current season ticket holders who got in the day he was hired. They were able to do so because the club was dying to sell any ticket. The waiting list for Patriots tickets amounted to the will call.
 
Was he lucky to get a team that low to the Super Bowl in 4 years? I'd like to think so because the idea of it happening in 1992 would have involved a literal miracle. 
 
The shit he did with contacting the Jets during the Super Bowl remains one of the more galling things I've ever heard. I have no respect for football coaches, but the entire premise to the job is you manage the team to win a championship. How many calls did he make that week? Wasn't it over 50? That entire week jeopardized all of the momentum they had gained during his run. The Carroll hiring immediately began at a disadvantage and saw the team regress until 2001.
 

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I appreciate the job Parcells did here (and he, along with Kraft and Bledsoe get a ton of credit for restoring credibility to a dead franchise).  And, yes, I was pissed at Kraft at the time for not being able to get along with Parcells well enough to keep him here.
 
But time has proven Kraft to be completely right.  He wanted a guy who would commit to the Pats long-term and Parcells at that point (and through his tenures with the Jets and Dallas) was always operating on a year-to-year timetable.  Kraft knew that was no way to run a team, and while he stumbled with the Booby Grier thing (and to a lesser extent Carroll), ultimately he was right.
 
And Parcells should never be let off the hook for what he did during the time when he should have been preparing the Pats to face the Packers in the Super Bowl.  That nobody (other than Pats fans at times) mentions this when discussing Parcells is inconceivable to me.  He did not give his best effort in preparing the team to play in the Super Bowl, and potentially cost himself a chance at another Lombardi, because he had decided it wasn't in Bill Parcells' best interest to remain in New England.  That's completely fucked up and should forever taint Parcells' legacy, not just in New England, but in the NFL.
 
So, yeah, he gets credit for helping stabilize and awful situation, and he is indisputably a great coach.  But the way it ended for him here complete overshadows anything he did before, at least in my eyes.
 

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Old Fart Tree said:
Exactly.
 
Great coach, super huge asshole. Maybe the same is true of BB. Whatever. Don't care.
 
BB is an asshole who stays put.  That already puts him ahead.
 

loshjott

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lexrageorge said:
In the interest of being "fair and balanced":
 
We all loved Parcells when he joined the Patriots.  For those that started following the team in the past 15 years, it's really hard to describe what a joke the franchise had become over the previous 40.  Jerry Rice must be thanking his lucky stars the Pats traded down so they could nab Trevor Matich.  And it's not even clear that was the worst personnel move the team made.  Parcells really shifted how the organization was perceived by both players and fans.  And his press conferences were must see events; I know there's some folks that would love it if Belichick for once shouted "That's a dumb ass question; you're a jerk for asking that question".  
 
And I do recall lots of people being pissed at Kraft when Parcells left.  It wasn't until much later than the real stories regarding Parcells interviews the week before the Super Bowl.
 
Sure, Parcells was all about Parcells, first and foremost, and sometimes to the detriment of his legacy.  He's a jerk, but it was fun when he was "our jerk".  
 
Let's not forget that after Belichick was fired from the Browns/Ravens in Feb 1996, Parcells hired him back as the Pats DB coach for the 1996 season.  If he hadn't done that, BB could have ended up anywhere and history would be very different.  
 

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lambeau said:
Woody Johnson may be an heiress, but too dumb to go to ASU? Vontaze Burfict and Terrell Suggs feel bad for him; and Gronk is offended.
 
Burfict flipped from USC because he was pitched on academics. Suggs' parents are educators.
 
Gronk sucks and is associated with jerks that are mean to cheerleaders. Why would anyone be mean to such wonderful people?
 

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Vinho Tinto said:
 
In the prior 4 seasons to his arrival they won 14 games. Specifically, you'd be hard pressed to find professional teams worse than the 1990 team that won one game and had a scoring differential of -265. The 1992 team under Dick McPherson (Who entertained everyone by bear hugging his QB after the 8 games his teams won) had turned it around to two wins and -158. The only national headlines the team had were centered around sexually harassing a female reporter and who they would draft with the number one pick. The franchise had zero juice when he took over. The fans understandably were repulsed by what they had become, games became regular blackouts on TV, and the team was used as a punching bag by the media. There are current season ticket holders who got in the day he was hired. They were able to do so because the club was dying to sell any ticket. The waiting list for Patriots tickets amounted to the will call.
 
Was he lucky to get a team that low to the Super Bowl in 4 years? I'd like to think so because the idea of it happening in 1992 would have involved a literal miracle. 
 
The shit he did with contacting the Jets during the Super Bowl remains one of the more galling things I've ever heard. I have no respect for football coaches, but the entire premise to the job is you manage the team to win a championship. How many calls did he make that week? Wasn't it over 50? That entire week jeopardized all of the momentum they had gained during his run. The Carroll hiring immediately began at a disadvantage and saw the team regress until 2001.
 
Parcells never had as much to do with the saving of the franchise than he's been credited for, IMO. He walked into the job having been gifted the number 1 pick and made the nobrainer choice of Bledsoe there. Did anyone think he was gonna take Mirer? Yay, bully for him. Now, he did bring in a lot of talent over the next few years, but make no mistake: this team was going to be the St Louis Pioneers, with Parcells as their coach, had Bob Kraft not stepped up and bought the team against the advice of his financial advisers. Parcells may have been an attractive part of that package, but the team was overpriced and everyone knew it and Kraft took the chance anyway.
 
And if Parcells was so great it's odd that the team took a huge step back in his 3rd year here and there were questions about Parcells' ability to take the team to the next level (Bob Ryan was pretty strong in this line of criticism).
 
And then the team made the Super Bowl and Parcells spent the whole week fucking off looking out for only himself. Disgusting. Yes, he made over 50 calls that week trying to land the Jets job.
 
Parcells got increasingly diminishing returns in each of his head coaching spots. Won a couple with SB with the Giants. Lost 1 SB with the Pats. Lost an AFCCG with the Jets. And then made the playoffs in only 2 years out of 4 with Dallas going 0-2 in the postseason there. He's overrated as a coach. He's always been overrated, because the dim bulbs in the media love his abusing of them at his hands because he fills up their notebooks.
 

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luckiestman

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
 
Parcells never had as much to do with the saving of the franchise than he's been credited for, IMO. He walked into the job having been gifted the number 1 pick and made the nobrainer choice of Bledsoe there. Did anyone think he was gonna take Mirer? Yay, bully for him. Now, he did bring in a lot of talent over the next few years, but make no mistake: this team was going to be the St Louis Pioneers, with Parcells as their coach, had Bob Kraft not stepped up and bought the team against the advice of his financial advisers. Parcells may have been an attractive part of that package, but the team was overpriced and everyone knew it and Kraft took the chance anyway.
 
And if Parcells was so great it's odd that the team took a huge step back in his 3rd year here and there were questions about Parcells' ability to take the team to the next level (Bob Ryan was pretty strong in this line of criticism).
 
And then the team made the Super Bowl and Parcells spent the whole week fucking off looking out for only himself. Disgusting. Yes, he made over 50 calls that week trying to land the Jets job.
 
Parcells got increasingly diminishing returns in each of his head coaching spots. Won a couple with SB with the Giants. Lost 1 SB with the Pats. Lost an AFCCG with the Jets. And then made the playoffs in only 2 years out of 4 with Dallas going 0-2 in the postseason there. He's overrated as a coach. He's always been overrated, because the dim bulbs in the media love his abusing of them at his hands because he fills up their notebooks.
I really have to disagree that Parcells is overrated. He went 8-8 with a ray Lucas/Rick Mirer Jets team the year Testaverde went down with the achilles. That season is the reason I realized what a smart SOB Belichick is and Parcells always chose to give that guy a job.
 

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luckiestman

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
 
Parcells never had as much to do with the saving of the franchise than he's been credited for, IMO. He walked into the job having been gifted the number 1 pick and made the nobrainer choice of Bledsoe there. Did anyone think he was gonna take Mirer? Yay, bully for him. Now, he did bring in a lot of talent over the next few years, but make no mistake: this team was going to be the St Louis Pioneers, with Parcells as their coach, had Bob Kraft not stepped up and bought the team against the advice of his financial advisers. Parcells may have been an attractive part of that package, but the team was overpriced and everyone knew it and Kraft took the chance anyway.
 
And if Parcells was so great it's odd that the team took a huge step back in his 3rd year here and there were questions about Parcells' ability to take the team to the next level (Bob Ryan was pretty strong in this line of criticism).
 
And then the team made the Super Bowl and Parcells spent the whole week fucking off looking out for only himself. Disgusting. Yes, he made over 50 calls that week trying to land the Jets job.
 
Parcells got increasingly diminishing returns in each of his head coaching spots. Won a couple with SB with the Giants. Lost 1 SB with the Pats. Lost an AFCCG with the Jets. And then made the playoffs in only 2 years out of 4 with Dallas going 0-2 in the postseason there. He's overrated as a coach. He's always been overrated, because the dim bulbs in the media love his abusing of them at his hands because he fills up their notebooks.

Bill Parcells won a SB with Jeff Hostetler. So he needed Norwood to miss a 47 yarder, big deal. Going through Frisco that year was no joke either.

He made the AFCCG with Vinny Testaverde. The man is a coaching god who is also an asshole. The latter does not cancel out the former.
 

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
 
Parcells never had as much to do with the saving of the franchise than he's been credited for, IMO. He walked into the job having been gifted the number 1 pick and made the nobrainer choice of Bledsoe there. Did anyone think he was gonna take Mirer? Yay, bully for him. Now, he did bring in a lot of talent over the next few years, but make no mistake: this team was going to be the St Louis Pioneers, with Parcells as their coach, had Bob Kraft not stepped up and bought the team against the advice of his financial advisers. Parcells may have been an attractive part of that package, but the team was overpriced and everyone knew it and Kraft took the chance anyway.
 
And if Parcells was so great it's odd that the team took a huge step back in his 3rd year here and there were questions about Parcells' ability to take the team to the next level (Bob Ryan was pretty strong in this line of criticism).
 
And then the team made the Super Bowl and Parcells spent the whole week fucking off looking out for only himself. Disgusting. Yes, he made over 50 calls that week trying to land the Jets job.
 
Parcells got increasingly diminishing returns in each of his head coaching spots. Won a couple with SB with the Giants. Lost 1 SB with the Pats. Lost an AFCCG with the Jets. And then made the playoffs in only 2 years out of 4 with Dallas going 0-2 in the postseason there. He's overrated as a coach. He's always been overrated, because the dim bulbs in the media love his abusing of them at his hands because he fills up their notebooks.
 
Marc Bertrand would be proud of this post. I agree with most of what you said but I think you're discounting Parcells a bit too far. Rick Meyer was the ROY, not Bledsoe and there were serious questions there. There were questions back then about who to draft. 
 
I also think you are discounting that the 2001 team that won the Super Bowl was almost all Parcells guys, with the "small" exception of Brady. Belichick gets shit for being a bad GM and great coach. Parcells was a great GM and good coach (at worst), so it goes both ways.
 
Bill Parcells is the Bill Clinton of the NFL which is why everyone loves him despite his numerous fuckups. 
 

soxfan121

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NortheasternPJ said:
I also think you are discounting that the 2001 team that won the Super Bowl was almost all Parcells guys, with the "small" exception of Brady.
 
This isn't strictly true - many of the big names were Parcells guys and a few more were Parcells Jets guys...but there were lots of guys who weren't. 
 

Stitch01

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I actually like Parcells, and there were certainly a handful of holdovers from the Parcells era that played key roles, but there weren't that many Parcells guys on the '01 roster.
 

lexrageorge

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Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
 
Parcells never had as much to do with the saving of the franchise than he's been credited for, IMO. He walked into the job having been gifted the number 1 pick and made the nobrainer choice of Bledsoe there. Did anyone think he was gonna take Mirer? Yay, bully for him. Now, he did bring in a lot of talent over the next few years, but make no mistake: this team was going to be the St Louis Pioneers, with Parcells as their coach, had Bob Kraft not stepped up and bought the team against the advice of his financial advisers. Parcells may have been an attractive part of that package, but the team was overpriced and everyone knew it and Kraft took the chance anyway.
 
And if Parcells was so great it's odd that the team took a huge step back in his 3rd year here and there were questions about Parcells' ability to take the team to the next level (Bob Ryan was pretty strong in this line of criticism).
 
And then the team made the Super Bowl and Parcells spent the whole week fucking off looking out for only himself. Disgusting. Yes, he made over 50 calls that week trying to land the Jets job.
 
Parcells got increasingly diminishing returns in each of his head coaching spots. Won a couple with SB with the Giants. Lost 1 SB with the Pats. Lost an AFCCG with the Jets. And then made the playoffs in only 2 years out of 4 with Dallas going 0-2 in the postseason there. He's overrated as a coach. He's always been overrated, because the dim bulbs in the media love his abusing of them at his hands because he fills up their notebooks.
 
It's nice to think now that drafting Bledsoe was a no brainer, but there were many pundits claiming that Mirer would be the better QB.  And Mirer did have a better rookie season.  Also, there were quite a few trade offers from other teams trying to pry that pick from Parcells; he could have easily settled for drafting quantity, given that the Pats team he inherited was devoid of talent at nearly every position, aside from Ben Coates, Bruce Armstrong and Vincent Brown (Andre Tippett was unfortunately at the end of the line by then, and Irving Fryar wasn't coming back).  
 
Parcells did draft Vincent Brisby, Todd Rucci, Chris Slade, and the two Browns in that Bledsoe draft.  And he hit again when he drafted Willie McGinest and Ty Law in the first round of subsequent drafts, both of whom won Super Bowls for the Pats.  That 1994 team played quite a bit over its head in the home stretch to make the playoffs, and I do credit Parcells for that.  And he got more success out of Bledsoe than any coach since. 
 
I'm not defending Parcells' antics during the Super Bowl week.  That Super Bowl was winnable had it not been for Desmond Howard.  Had the Pats not won 3 Super Bowls in the ensuing years, I'm sure we'd be looking back at Parcells antics as being worse than those of Chuck Fairbanks, also a good coach and drafter of talent.  To be honest, what Parcells did was worse; at least Fairbanks was going to a college job.  
 
No, Parcells wasn't as important as Kraft.  Or Brady.  Or Belichick.  Parcells vs Bledsoe is a jump ball, although Bledsoe wins because he was here longer and was a player.  But Parcells did bring Belichick to the Patriots as an assistant, an event that had repercussions down the line. 
 

tims4wins

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lexrageorge said:
No, Parcells wasn't as important as Kraft.  Or Brady.  Or Belichick.  Parcells vs Bledsoe is a jump ball, although Bledsoe wins because he was here longer and was a player.  But Parcells did bring Belichick to the Patriots as an assistant, an event that had repercussions down the line. 
 
This is true, but I am also wondering what part BB played in this, and if he deserves the credit too. From Barnwell today:
 
Belichick wasn’t out of work for long. Rumors suggested he would choose to serve as the defensive coordinator for new Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson, but just two days after his firing, Belichick agreed to join the staff of Patriots head coach Bill Parcells.
 
We all know BB likes and admires Jimmy Johnson as a football mind. So maybe Parcells "lured" BB to New England as an assistant. But if it was BB's choice to go to New England over Miami, then Parcells gets a little less credit for that particular piece of the puzzle.
 

Stitch01

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The Parcells era drafts were very good on the whole.
 
1993-Bledsoe (probably an average number 1 overall pick, but a good player for a long time), Slade was good, Rucci and Brisby were OK, Troy Brown in the 8th round, Corwin Brown had an NFL career. 
1994-only pretty bad draft, but McGinest was a good pick and Lane and Marty Moore were decent late round hits.  Brutal 2nd and 3rd round here though, Kevin Lee was a whiff and Collier and Burch got cut in camp as third round picks.
1995-HOF RB in the third round, Hall of very good Ty Law in the 1st round, Ted Johnson in the 2nd round, Wohlabaugh and Hitchcock in the 5th and 4th rounds.  About as good as it gets.
1996-Glenn/Milloy/Bruschi 1-2-3 was excellent and Irwin and Sullivan both had real NFL careers in the 4th round.  Some production out of Grier and Purnell late.
 
Pretty good overall IMO
 

Super Nomario

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tims4wins said:
 
This is true, but I am also wondering what part BB played in this, and if he deserves the credit too. From Barnwell today:
 
 
We all know BB likes and admires Jimmy Johnson as a football mind. So maybe Parcells "lured" BB to New England as an assistant. But if it was BB's choice to go to New England over Miami, then Parcells gets a little less credit for that particular piece of the puzzle.
Doesn't he get points for recruiting / enticing Belichick to go with him instead of Johnson, in that case? It seems weird that you'd only give him credit for hiring Belichick if no one else wanted BB.