Web Of Bill Parcells Continues To Expand

When the Mara family hired Bill Parcells to be the head football coach of the New York Giants for the 1983 season, there was no way that they could ever understand how much influnce he would have over the NFL for the next 25 years. (And if they had fired him after he went 3-12-1 in '83 in favor of Howard Schnellenberger, I wouldn't be writing this right now.) Parcells made the Giants an instant factor in the NFL, leading the G-Men to a 77-49-1 record and two Super Bowl championships in his eight years as coach. After leaving the Giants, Parcells made the Patriots (32-32 record, 1997 AFC Champions), Jets (29-19, 1999 AFC Championship game), and Cowboys (34-30) into winners. He is currently in charge of the Miami Dolphins and in his first year on the job, the Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and won the AFC East. With a career record of 172-130-1 (.570 winning percentage), eight division championships and two Lombardi Trophies on his resume, Parcells established himself as one of the best coaches in NFL history. However, the biggest impact that Parcells has had on football is the coaches and general managers that have worked under Parcells who have gone on to great success. The biggest "branch" of the Parcells "tree" is Bill Belichick. Belichick was the defensive coordinator under Parcells for both Super Bowls in New York before taking the head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns. After five mediocre years with Cleveland, Belichick became an assistant under Parcells again, first with the Patriots and then the Jets. He was tabbed to succeed Parcells on the Jets sideline but instead he bolted New Jersey to take over the Patriots in 2000. The rest is history. He has won four AFC Championships and three Super Bowls with the Pats. Tom Coughlin, who was wide receivers coach under Parcells on the Giants from 1988-1990, is now the coach of the Giants and won Super Bowl XLII over Belichick and the Patriots. He also had success with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Boston College. Sean Payton, who served as assistant head coach for the Cowboys for Parcells, is the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. In his first year with the Saints in 2006, Payton led them to their only appearance in the NFC Championship Game. Charlie Weis (currently head coach of Notre Dame) and Romeo Crennel (recently fired as head coach of the Browns) were both assistants under Parcells with the Giants and Jets who then went on to win three Super Bowls as offensive coordinator (Weis) and defensive coordinator (Crennel) of the Patriots under Belichick. Eric Mangini, like Weis and Crennel, worked under both Parcells and Belichick. Mangini was head coach of the Jets from 2006-2008 and was just hired to replace Crennel with the Browns. Al Groh is another former Parcells assistant (with the Giants, Patriots and Jets) who is a head coach. He succeeded Parcells as head coach of the Jets after Belichick took the Patriots job and is currently the head coach of the University of Virginia. Tony Sparano, the head coach of the Dolphins, made his mark in the NFL as a Parcells assistant in Dallas. Jeff Ireland was a member of the Dallas front office during the Parcells era who followed him to Miami. Ireland currently serves as general manager of the Dolphins. Belichick's right hand man in New England, and the new head of football operations for the Kansas City Chiefs, is another Parcells disciple. Pioli's ties to Parcells go far beyond football. He is married to Parcells' daughter, Dallas. He worked in the front office of the Jets under his father-in-law before following Belichick to Foxboro. Pioli is also responsible for the latest addition to the Parcells (head) coaching tree. After firing Herm Edwards last week, Pioli today hired former Parcells Jets assistant (and most recently the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals) Todd Haley as head coach of the Chiefs. It is amazing how far and deep the Parcells tree extends in football. A lot of coaches who have even a small amount of success will go on to see their coordinators get head coaching positions. The true testament of the success of the "Parcells Way" is all the lower level assistant coaches who have gone on to be successful head coaches. If you combine the Parcells tree with that of Belichick, there are too many names to mention. It makes you wonder why Parcells, who has influenced the NFL on the field more than any one man over the last quarter century, has not yet been elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame.