Will You Miss Him?
Parcells not coming back to Dallas
Bill Parcells retired from coaching Monday, leaving the Dallas Cowboys after four seasons and ending a stellar career that featured three Super Bowl appearances and two championships.
The decision came 15 days after the Cowboys' season ended with a heartbreaking playoff loss in Seattle. He'd been at his office nearly every day since, and there were other indications that the 65-year-old coach was returning for a fifth year in Dallas and 20th as an NFL head coach.
Instead, Parcells released a statement saying: "I am retiring from coaching football."
"I want to thank Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones for their tremendous support over the last four years," the statement continued. "Also, the players, my coaching staff and others in the support group who have done so much to help. Dallas is a great city and the Cowboys are an integral part of it. I am hopeful that they are able to go forward from here."
The announcement came in a morning e-mail. There was no statement from Jones, the team owner, although one was planned for later in the day. There were no immediate plans for a news conference.
"I am in good health and feel lucky to have been able to coach in the NFL for an extended period of time," Parcells said. "I leave the game and the NFL with nothing but good feelings and gratitude to all the players, coaches and other people that have assisted me in that regard."
Known best for a gruff demeanor and colorful quotes, Parcells leaves with the ninth most wins in NFL history and a career record of 183-138-1. He was 34-32 in Dallas, including 0-2 in the postseason. He had one year left at more than $5 million on a contract extension signed last January.
Before joining the Cowboys, Parcells led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles, got the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl and took the New York Jets to the AFC title game.
He gave up a job in television to return to the sideline in Dallas, energized by the challenge of restoring glory to "America's Team."
While he definitely left the Cowboys better than he found them, his tenure ultimately may be remembered for the lack of a playoff victory. Dallas hasn't won a postseason game since 1996, easily the longest skid in the history of the franchise that's been to a record eight Super Bowls.
Thus, Parcells' legacy with the Cowboys can be framed this way: Instead of joining Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer as coaches who led them to championships, he leaves lumped with Chan Gailey and Dave Campo as the only ones who didn't.
"I did the best I could," Parcells said following his final game, a 21-20 playoff loss in Seattle. "But it wasn't quite good enough."
The Cowboys had a two-game division lead in December, then lost four of their last five games, including the final three. The finale was against the Seahawks, when Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo botched the hold on a short field goal with a little more than a minute left.
This past season, Parcells also had to endure the constant dramas that came with coaching Terrell Owens. With Parcells gone, there may be a better chance that Owens returns in 2007.
Before Jerry Jones starts thinking about that, he'll have to find the seventh coach in team history.
If Jones wants a proven commodity, he might go after Tennessee's Jeff Fisher or Bill Cowher, recently resigned from Pittsburgh. Both are under contract for 2007, which means their teams would get compensation in addition to the massive salaries they'd command.
If Jones goes after a college coach, big-name candidates would be Charlie Weis of Notre Dame, a former Parcells assistant, and Southern California's Pete Carroll, who coincidentally replaced Parcells in New England in 1997. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma and Houston Nutt of Arkansas, Jones' alma mater, also might be considered.
There do not seem to be any strong internal candidates. The closest Parcells came to grooming a successor was Sean Payton, who was hired last year to coach New Orleans and became the NFL coach of the year.
All candidates will have to accept Jones being the general manager. That might have driven away others before, but four years of avoiding ego clashes with Parcells probably has changed his reputation.
Parcells' specialty in football was defense. His greatest trait as a coach, though, was his ability to turn around downtrodden clubs. All four teams he coached had losing records before he arrived, but all four were in the playoffs by his second season. No other coach has taken that many franchises to the postseason.
The Cowboys went from three straight five-win seasons before Parcells arrived to 10-6 and into the playoffs in his first season, 2003. That same year, Jones persuaded Arl
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