Bill Parcells wanted to be Giants' general manager, book says
BY RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Hours before a big Giants-Cowboys showdown last December, then-Cowboys coach Bill Parcells sat in a car outside Giants Stadium and made it clear to the Giants that he was interested in their soon-to-be-vacated general manager's job.
That's one of many surprising revelations in "The GM: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares That Go With It," by Tom Callahan (Crown Publishing) - a story about the 2006 Giants told with the help of retiring GM Ernie Accorsi. A copy of the book, due to be released on Sept.18, was obtained by the Daily News.
According to the book, six hours before the Giants and Cowboys battled on Dec. 3 for first place in the NFC East, Parcells "sat with a former Giants colleague in a car in the parking lot....What Bill supposedly said became the lead item on the front office grapevine: 'I'm available to be the Giants' GM if they get stuck. Keep me alive with John Mara, will you?'"
In January, when news broke of Parcells' supposed interest in the Giants' GM position, both Parcells and the Giants denied it. "There's absolutely nothing to it," Parcells told the Daily News back in January. "There has been no contact, either directly or through an intermediary. Whoever said it is a liar."
According to the book, the reaction in the Giants' front office to Parcells' denial was "hilarity."
That's not the only shocking story involving Parcells in this new book; there is also the story of how the Giants would have hired him to be their coach again in 1997, if only their late GM, George Young, had a cell phone. According to the book, when Dan Reeves was fired after the '96 season, a Parcells return was discussed so seriously that Young - who disliked Parcells and favored Jim Fassel - told Accorsi, then assistant GM, he was prepared to retire on the spot if the Giants brought Parcells back.
"Joel Goldberg, who was the (team) psychologist, talked (the late co-owner) Bob Tisch out of Parcells," Accorsi is quoted as saying in the book. So Tisch and Wellington Mara settled on Fassel, and Young was sent to a nearby hotel to offer him the job.
"But he isn't even gone two minutes when Bob Tisch calls to say he has changed his mind," Accorsi says. "So John (Mara) quickly calls our switchboard up front. 'Did George Young leave the building yet?' 'Yes, he just ran out.' They phone the hotel as quickly as they can trying to cut him off. But they can't find him.
"Eventually they call Fassel's room, asking for George, and he comes on the line. 'Have you offered the job to Fassel yet?' George says 'Yes, I have.' 'Has he accepted it?' 'Yes.' 'Okay.' The Maras being the Maras, once the offer had been extended on their behalf, they weren't about to take it back."
Among the other revelations in the soon-to-be-released book:
Before the 2002 draft, a team psychologist told Accorsi "You can't draft (Jeremy) Shockey." Undeterred, Accorsi flew to Ada, Okla., met with Shockey, looked into his background, and convinced the Giants to draft him anyway.
In the second round of the 2004 draft, before the Giants drafted guard Chris Snee, who had fathered a child with Tom Coughlin's daughter, Coughlin called his wife and got her approval.
Coughlin's job interview in late 2003 got off to a rocky start when he made a 25-minute opening statement. "It annoyed me, turned me off," Accorsi says. "'When is this misery going to end?' I thought. I was just about ready to scream 'Enough already!' when he finally stopped."
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was the Giants' top choice to replace Coughlin, who was going to be fired if the Giants lost to Washington in the season finale and missed the playoffs. Louisville's Bobby Petrino was the second choice.
Despite publicly maintaining that he drafted quarterback Philip Rivers fourth overall in 2004 for the Giants and that he would've been content keeping Rivers if the big Eli Manning deal had fallen through, Accorsi says "I never considered (Rivers) for three seconds."
Tiki Barber broke his right thumb in the Giants' loss to Chicago on Nov. 12 of last year. He told the media it was only sprained and played with it the rest of the season.
Accorsi, who had many issues with Coughlin's coaching strategies, was furious when the coach fired defensive coordinator Tim Lewis after the season without telling Accorsi first. Accorsi, who was in favor of the firing, told Coughlin his failure to inform the GM was "a classless act."
Accorsi was furious with several of Coughlin's decisions during the Giants' season-turning, 38-20 loss to the Bears last year. According to the book, he was livid when Coughlin sent Jay Feely out to try a 51-yard field goal with 11:49 left in a 24-20 game. "Now we have all our fat guys on the field," Accorsi said. "Watch (Devin) Hester run it all the way back for a touchdown." Of course, Hester returned the missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown.
Accorsi was also furious with Coughlin's decision to call a timeout late in the first half that gave the Bears time to close the gap from 13-3 to 13-10 before the half. When the timeout was called, Accorsi, standing in the stadium tunnel, screamed "No, no, no, no! Don't be too smart!"
The Dallas Cowboys' game-winning field goal drive in a 23-20 win over the Giants on Dec. 3 was set up by a poor kickoff by Feely. Before the kickoff, Feely didn't like the ball he was given so he asked the men in charge of the balls - two long-time Giants employees - for a different one. They refused. "I couldn't believe it," Feely says. Accorsi fired them the next day.
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Hours before a big Giants-Cowboys showdown last December, then-Cowboys coach Bill Parcells sat in a car outside Giants Stadium and made it clear to the Giants that he was interested in their soon-to-be-vacated general manager's job.
That's one of many surprising revelations in "The GM: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares That Go With It," by Tom Callahan (Crown Publishing) - a story about the 2006 Giants told with the help of retiring GM Ernie Accorsi. A copy of the book, due to be released on Sept.18, was obtained by the Daily News.
According to the book, six hours before the Giants and Cowboys battled on Dec. 3 for first place in the NFC East, Parcells "sat with a former Giants colleague in a car in the parking lot....What Bill supposedly said became the lead item on the front office grapevine: 'I'm available to be the Giants' GM if they get stuck. Keep me alive with John Mara, will you?'"
In January, when news broke of Parcells' supposed interest in the Giants' GM position, both Parcells and the Giants denied it. "There's absolutely nothing to it," Parcells told the Daily News back in January. "There has been no contact, either directly or through an intermediary. Whoever said it is a liar."
According to the book, the reaction in the Giants' front office to Parcells' denial was "hilarity."
That's not the only shocking story involving Parcells in this new book; there is also the story of how the Giants would have hired him to be their coach again in 1997, if only their late GM, George Young, had a cell phone. According to the book, when Dan Reeves was fired after the '96 season, a Parcells return was discussed so seriously that Young - who disliked Parcells and favored Jim Fassel - told Accorsi, then assistant GM, he was prepared to retire on the spot if the Giants brought Parcells back.
"Joel Goldberg, who was the (team) psychologist, talked (the late co-owner) Bob Tisch out of Parcells," Accorsi is quoted as saying in the book. So Tisch and Wellington Mara settled on Fassel, and Young was sent to a nearby hotel to offer him the job.
"But he isn't even gone two minutes when Bob Tisch calls to say he has changed his mind," Accorsi says. "So John (Mara) quickly calls our switchboard up front. 'Did George Young leave the building yet?' 'Yes, he just ran out.' They phone the hotel as quickly as they can trying to cut him off. But they can't find him.
"Eventually they call Fassel's room, asking for George, and he comes on the line. 'Have you offered the job to Fassel yet?' George says 'Yes, I have.' 'Has he accepted it?' 'Yes.' 'Okay.' The Maras being the Maras, once the offer had been extended on their behalf, they weren't about to take it back."
Among the other revelations in the soon-to-be-released book:
Before the 2002 draft, a team psychologist told Accorsi "You can't draft (Jeremy) Shockey." Undeterred, Accorsi flew to Ada, Okla., met with Shockey, looked into his background, and convinced the Giants to draft him anyway.
In the second round of the 2004 draft, before the Giants drafted guard Chris Snee, who had fathered a child with Tom Coughlin's daughter, Coughlin called his wife and got her approval.
Coughlin's job interview in late 2003 got off to a rocky start when he made a 25-minute opening statement. "It annoyed me, turned me off," Accorsi says. "'When is this misery going to end?' I thought. I was just about ready to scream 'Enough already!' when he finally stopped."
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was the Giants' top choice to replace Coughlin, who was going to be fired if the Giants lost to Washington in the season finale and missed the playoffs. Louisville's Bobby Petrino was the second choice.
Despite publicly maintaining that he drafted quarterback Philip Rivers fourth overall in 2004 for the Giants and that he would've been content keeping Rivers if the big Eli Manning deal had fallen through, Accorsi says "I never considered (Rivers) for three seconds."
Tiki Barber broke his right thumb in the Giants' loss to Chicago on Nov. 12 of last year. He told the media it was only sprained and played with it the rest of the season.
Accorsi, who had many issues with Coughlin's coaching strategies, was furious when the coach fired defensive coordinator Tim Lewis after the season without telling Accorsi first. Accorsi, who was in favor of the firing, told Coughlin his failure to inform the GM was "a classless act."
Accorsi was furious with several of Coughlin's decisions during the Giants' season-turning, 38-20 loss to the Bears last year. According to the book, he was livid when Coughlin sent Jay Feely out to try a 51-yard field goal with 11:49 left in a 24-20 game. "Now we have all our fat guys on the field," Accorsi said. "Watch (Devin) Hester run it all the way back for a touchdown." Of course, Hester returned the missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown.
Accorsi was also furious with Coughlin's decision to call a timeout late in the first half that gave the Bears time to close the gap from 13-3 to 13-10 before the half. When the timeout was called, Accorsi, standing in the stadium tunnel, screamed "No, no, no, no! Don't be too smart!"
The Dallas Cowboys' game-winning field goal drive in a 23-20 win over the Giants on Dec. 3 was set up by a poor kickoff by Feely. Before the kickoff, Feely didn't like the ball he was given so he asked the men in charge of the balls - two long-time Giants employees - for a different one. They refused. "I couldn't believe it," Feely says. Accorsi fired them the next day.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:34 AM
<< Home