And Now, the Eyes of Texas Are Upon Jones and Parcells
By TOM SPOUSTA
NY Times
Published: January 4, 2007
IRVING, Tex., Jan. 3 — Bill Parcells was careful with his words, even as he picked a curious time to hint at his future as Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys play the Seattle Seahawks Saturday in a first-round playoff game, and after having lost three of the last four games, Dallas has more dire matters to consider than when a summit meeting between Parcells and the owner Jerry Jones might occur.
Parcells, though, said Wednesday he and Jones have already picked a time to discuss the issues surrounding a decision on whether Parcells will return for the fifth and final year of his contract.
“We have an understanding as to what’s going to happen,” Parcells said. “I’ll let you know about that when the season’s over. But we do have an understanding. There’s no doubt about what’s in place and what we’re going to talk about and when.”
Asked if the job was still his if he wanted it, Parcells said: “Yeah, I think so. But I’m not saying. You’ll have to ask him about that.”
Success has been elusive for the Cowboys (9-7) under Parcells, who has yet to match the 10-6 record he posted when he took over in 2003. The Cowboys made the playoffs as a wild card that year, but lost in the first round to the Carolina Panthers. Should they lose to the 9-7 Seahawks, the Cowboys’ streak without a playoff victory will have reached 10 seasons.
That drought does not sit well with Jones, whose comments to the local news media have included words like pitiful, disgusted, frustrated and disappointed to describe the state of his franchise.
Jones’s omnipresence on the Cowboys’ sideline, contrasted with Parcells’s occasional listless body language, has fueled speculation of a coaching change in a football-crazy area where the weekly vibe can swing from thoughts of the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl to the sky falling through the hole at Texas Stadium.
Parcells bristled at the notion of being at the low point of his career, although that’s what he said after a loss earlier this season.
“You’re judging me by a five-minute period after the game, when you experience a great disappointment,” he said. “If you judge someone like that, you’re always going to take the negative look. But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to go forward.”
Parcells said any decisions would include an overall evaluation and would not be based solely on whether the Cowboys beat the Seahawks, who also limp into the playoffs having lost three of four games.
“It’s not about a 10-day period, a two-week period or one-week period,” he said. “You can’t make a judgment based on that. You have to make a judgment based on whether you feel like you want to take on this task, you want to do it again, you want to muster up enough energy, because you know you’ve got another off-season, another draft, another preseason, another regular season, you’ve got the whole drill. If you’re ready to try to do that with the energy that you know is necessary, then you go forward with it.”
The Cowboys’ defense and the running game — hallmarks of Parcells’s championship Giants teams — have led the downward spiral. They have allowed an average of 33 points and have also allowed 14 touchdown passes in their last four games, including 4 on Sunday by Detroit’s Jon Kitna.
“We’ve got enough to worry about,” guard Marco Rivera said. “We can’t worry about how Bill’s feeling or how Jerry’s feeling.
“Each player has to be accountable for himself,” Rivera said. “He’s got to look at the tape and he’s got to say, ‘O.K., am I doing enough to help the Cowboys win?’ We’re professionals. That’s our job. If everybody takes care of the things they need to do, our coaches won’t feel like that and our owner won’t feel like that and we’ll win the game.”
Cornerback Aaron Glenn, who also played for Parcells when he coached the Jets, does not believe Parcells has lost his passion.
“It could be his last year or he could coach for 10 more years,” Glenn said. “It would be a sad thing, not just for the team, for the league to lose one of the top coaches of all time. Just like any other coach that retires or moves on. Sometimes it has to end, as a player or a coach. And only you know that. He’ll know when it’s time.”
NY Times
Published: January 4, 2007
IRVING, Tex., Jan. 3 — Bill Parcells was careful with his words, even as he picked a curious time to hint at his future as Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys play the Seattle Seahawks Saturday in a first-round playoff game, and after having lost three of the last four games, Dallas has more dire matters to consider than when a summit meeting between Parcells and the owner Jerry Jones might occur.
Parcells, though, said Wednesday he and Jones have already picked a time to discuss the issues surrounding a decision on whether Parcells will return for the fifth and final year of his contract.
“We have an understanding as to what’s going to happen,” Parcells said. “I’ll let you know about that when the season’s over. But we do have an understanding. There’s no doubt about what’s in place and what we’re going to talk about and when.”
Asked if the job was still his if he wanted it, Parcells said: “Yeah, I think so. But I’m not saying. You’ll have to ask him about that.”
Success has been elusive for the Cowboys (9-7) under Parcells, who has yet to match the 10-6 record he posted when he took over in 2003. The Cowboys made the playoffs as a wild card that year, but lost in the first round to the Carolina Panthers. Should they lose to the 9-7 Seahawks, the Cowboys’ streak without a playoff victory will have reached 10 seasons.
That drought does not sit well with Jones, whose comments to the local news media have included words like pitiful, disgusted, frustrated and disappointed to describe the state of his franchise.
Jones’s omnipresence on the Cowboys’ sideline, contrasted with Parcells’s occasional listless body language, has fueled speculation of a coaching change in a football-crazy area where the weekly vibe can swing from thoughts of the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl to the sky falling through the hole at Texas Stadium.
Parcells bristled at the notion of being at the low point of his career, although that’s what he said after a loss earlier this season.
“You’re judging me by a five-minute period after the game, when you experience a great disappointment,” he said. “If you judge someone like that, you’re always going to take the negative look. But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to go forward.”
Parcells said any decisions would include an overall evaluation and would not be based solely on whether the Cowboys beat the Seahawks, who also limp into the playoffs having lost three of four games.
“It’s not about a 10-day period, a two-week period or one-week period,” he said. “You can’t make a judgment based on that. You have to make a judgment based on whether you feel like you want to take on this task, you want to do it again, you want to muster up enough energy, because you know you’ve got another off-season, another draft, another preseason, another regular season, you’ve got the whole drill. If you’re ready to try to do that with the energy that you know is necessary, then you go forward with it.”
The Cowboys’ defense and the running game — hallmarks of Parcells’s championship Giants teams — have led the downward spiral. They have allowed an average of 33 points and have also allowed 14 touchdown passes in their last four games, including 4 on Sunday by Detroit’s Jon Kitna.
“We’ve got enough to worry about,” guard Marco Rivera said. “We can’t worry about how Bill’s feeling or how Jerry’s feeling.
“Each player has to be accountable for himself,” Rivera said. “He’s got to look at the tape and he’s got to say, ‘O.K., am I doing enough to help the Cowboys win?’ We’re professionals. That’s our job. If everybody takes care of the things they need to do, our coaches won’t feel like that and our owner won’t feel like that and we’ll win the game.”
Cornerback Aaron Glenn, who also played for Parcells when he coached the Jets, does not believe Parcells has lost his passion.
“It could be his last year or he could coach for 10 more years,” Glenn said. “It would be a sad thing, not just for the team, for the league to lose one of the top coaches of all time. Just like any other coach that retires or moves on. Sometimes it has to end, as a player or a coach. And only you know that. He’ll know when it’s time.”
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