Big Bill had a big reason to come back
By Jim Reeves
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- It probably says something about Bill Parcells as a football coach that he looked a lot more comfortable chatting with Terrell Owens on the football field Saturday than he did sitting beside Jerry Jones at the Cowboys' kickoff news conference Friday afternoon.
During the latter, which lasted an hour in the midday sun, Parcells frequently mopped his face with a towel, fidgeted in his chair and obviously would rather have been someplace else than listening to Jerry filibuster for 20 minutes about various subjects and then ironically declare that "my theme is that it's time to quit talking and...see what happens out on the football field."
Maybe anyplace else.
Now it's fair for you to wonder exactly what the difference might have been. After all, in both cases Parcells was engaged with a massive, often out-of-control ego.
Then again, either Jones or Owens could have made the same point about Big Bill.
No, the biggest difference between Friday and Saturday was real estate.
Location, location, location.
Parcells would much rather be on the field, doing what he loves, than sitting behind a microphone, answering questions from the media, which is a part of the job he only barely tolerates.
"Ah, I was fine up there with Jerry [on Friday]," Parcells insisted after his first post-practice news briefing of camp Saturday. "It was hot and I'd just finished working out and couldn't stop sweating. That's all."
Funny, but it was Jones who was sweating the week after the 2005 season ended, wondering if the reports were true that Parcells was considering retiring rather than finishing out the last year of his contract with the Cowboys.
It was enough to prompt Jones to extend Parcells' contract another year, though Bill insists that it wasn't necessary and that he'd have been here, sitting behind that table with Jerry on Friday even if that extension hadn't been proffered.
Of course, Big Bill didn't turn it down, either.
Parcells' silence immediately after the season, combined with an ESPN report that he might retire, fueled speculation that he was ready to walk away. There's no question that he was thinking about his future.
"I don't think [retirement] would be the right word," Parcells said. "I did ask Jerry for a few days. When the season's over, and particularly that last day there when we found out right before that last game [that the Cowboys had been eliminated from the playoffs], you just need a little time to get yourself removed.
"You don't want to be doing things when you're in an emotional state. I just asked for a couple of days to think things over, but I wouldn't say [retirement] would be the right consideration."
Maybe not retire, then. Just quit. Walk away. Do something else with the rest of his life.
Whatever euphemism Big Bill prefers, it all adds up to the same thing, and that's OK. He will turn 65 next month, is a grandfather three times over and has been to the NFL mountaintop. He understands more than ever that each season could be his last.
At the end of each season, he reassesses his energy level to gauge whether he still has the desire to rededicate himself to the enormous effort it takes to coach a professional football team. When will he know it's time to go?
"When I don't look forward to the process," he said. "I think probably at age 50 or so I wondered, 'Hey, Parcells, is this all you want to do in life?'
"You kind of go through that stage of being uncertain, and I had that one health issue [heart bypass surgery] there that kind of woke me up a little bit. I thought, 'There's other things I want to do in this world.'"
Not too surprisingly, he found that none of those things interested him nearly as much as the one true love of his life: coaching.
"Once you get through that, which I am definitely through that, [and] you know just chronologically [that] you're close to the end, it gets more precious to you," Parcells said. "Because this is my life's work.
"When you get near the end, each season it gets more precious to you -- each game, each season. It sounds corny, but that's really the way it is for me right this moment."
Besides, to quit after last season would have been to admit that he couldn't finish the job as the Cowboys' coach. That he had failed. That is not how Bill Parcells wants to go out.
He may not get back to the Super Bowl, but at least he'd like for his last coaching assignment to be something more than a meaningless, regular-season game.
By his own admission, Parcells' rebuilding plan for the Cowboys is about where he'd hoped it would be three-plus years into the process. In today's NFL, three years is a long rebuilding program. That the Cowboys have yet to win a playoff game -- and have played only one -- since Parcells arrived is also tantamount to failure.
That's why this season is so important. It's why he and the Cowboys were willing to gamble on Owens. They are desperate to win.
It's why Parcells ultimately decided to come back again and why he says he's looking forward to this season more than he has any other in a long, long time.
"Each year that I've been here we've improved both the talent level and the class of person here," he said. "When you get a good talented player, a guy or two here, it inspires you to coach a little bit more because you want to give them what you got, and we've got a couple of those now who are starting to come as bona fide players in the league.
"That kind of encourages me. A couple of these guys have a pretty good ceiling to get to. They haven't got there yet, but they're headed in that direction."
It could well be Parcells' last year, win or lose.
"I do look forward to it with anticipation," he said. "When you know it's time to go, whether the results dictate that, or you just don't have the energy to do it anymore...I'm fortunate to be able to make those choices."
And fortunate to have a "golden parachute" supplied by the owner. The only question now is when he pulls the ripcord, and whether it's in glory or full-fledged retreat.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- It probably says something about Bill Parcells as a football coach that he looked a lot more comfortable chatting with Terrell Owens on the football field Saturday than he did sitting beside Jerry Jones at the Cowboys' kickoff news conference Friday afternoon.
During the latter, which lasted an hour in the midday sun, Parcells frequently mopped his face with a towel, fidgeted in his chair and obviously would rather have been someplace else than listening to Jerry filibuster for 20 minutes about various subjects and then ironically declare that "my theme is that it's time to quit talking and...see what happens out on the football field."
Maybe anyplace else.
Now it's fair for you to wonder exactly what the difference might have been. After all, in both cases Parcells was engaged with a massive, often out-of-control ego.
Then again, either Jones or Owens could have made the same point about Big Bill.
No, the biggest difference between Friday and Saturday was real estate.
Location, location, location.
Parcells would much rather be on the field, doing what he loves, than sitting behind a microphone, answering questions from the media, which is a part of the job he only barely tolerates.
"Ah, I was fine up there with Jerry [on Friday]," Parcells insisted after his first post-practice news briefing of camp Saturday. "It was hot and I'd just finished working out and couldn't stop sweating. That's all."
Funny, but it was Jones who was sweating the week after the 2005 season ended, wondering if the reports were true that Parcells was considering retiring rather than finishing out the last year of his contract with the Cowboys.
It was enough to prompt Jones to extend Parcells' contract another year, though Bill insists that it wasn't necessary and that he'd have been here, sitting behind that table with Jerry on Friday even if that extension hadn't been proffered.
Of course, Big Bill didn't turn it down, either.
Parcells' silence immediately after the season, combined with an ESPN report that he might retire, fueled speculation that he was ready to walk away. There's no question that he was thinking about his future.
"I don't think [retirement] would be the right word," Parcells said. "I did ask Jerry for a few days. When the season's over, and particularly that last day there when we found out right before that last game [that the Cowboys had been eliminated from the playoffs], you just need a little time to get yourself removed.
"You don't want to be doing things when you're in an emotional state. I just asked for a couple of days to think things over, but I wouldn't say [retirement] would be the right consideration."
Maybe not retire, then. Just quit. Walk away. Do something else with the rest of his life.
Whatever euphemism Big Bill prefers, it all adds up to the same thing, and that's OK. He will turn 65 next month, is a grandfather three times over and has been to the NFL mountaintop. He understands more than ever that each season could be his last.
At the end of each season, he reassesses his energy level to gauge whether he still has the desire to rededicate himself to the enormous effort it takes to coach a professional football team. When will he know it's time to go?
"When I don't look forward to the process," he said. "I think probably at age 50 or so I wondered, 'Hey, Parcells, is this all you want to do in life?'
"You kind of go through that stage of being uncertain, and I had that one health issue [heart bypass surgery] there that kind of woke me up a little bit. I thought, 'There's other things I want to do in this world.'"
Not too surprisingly, he found that none of those things interested him nearly as much as the one true love of his life: coaching.
"Once you get through that, which I am definitely through that, [and] you know just chronologically [that] you're close to the end, it gets more precious to you," Parcells said. "Because this is my life's work.
"When you get near the end, each season it gets more precious to you -- each game, each season. It sounds corny, but that's really the way it is for me right this moment."
Besides, to quit after last season would have been to admit that he couldn't finish the job as the Cowboys' coach. That he had failed. That is not how Bill Parcells wants to go out.
He may not get back to the Super Bowl, but at least he'd like for his last coaching assignment to be something more than a meaningless, regular-season game.
By his own admission, Parcells' rebuilding plan for the Cowboys is about where he'd hoped it would be three-plus years into the process. In today's NFL, three years is a long rebuilding program. That the Cowboys have yet to win a playoff game -- and have played only one -- since Parcells arrived is also tantamount to failure.
That's why this season is so important. It's why he and the Cowboys were willing to gamble on Owens. They are desperate to win.
It's why Parcells ultimately decided to come back again and why he says he's looking forward to this season more than he has any other in a long, long time.
"Each year that I've been here we've improved both the talent level and the class of person here," he said. "When you get a good talented player, a guy or two here, it inspires you to coach a little bit more because you want to give them what you got, and we've got a couple of those now who are starting to come as bona fide players in the league.
"That kind of encourages me. A couple of these guys have a pretty good ceiling to get to. They haven't got there yet, but they're headed in that direction."
It could well be Parcells' last year, win or lose.
"I do look forward to it with anticipation," he said. "When you know it's time to go, whether the results dictate that, or you just don't have the energy to do it anymore...I'm fortunate to be able to make those choices."
And fortunate to have a "golden parachute" supplied by the owner. The only question now is when he pulls the ripcord, and whether it's in glory or full-fledged retreat.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:43 PM
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