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Parcells vs. Belichick neck and neck for now
The wrong answer does a damn good impression of the right one. In the Belichick-or-Parcells debate, you're talking about figures who will end up going to Canton — as Parcells used to say — on roller skates.
People in the Belichick camp argue that the matter is settled on the Super Bowl scoreboard. Their man has won three titles, Parcells has won two, and, of course, Belichick the defensive coordinator was a big part of those two.
Only it's not that simple, not even close. By imposing his will on weak and wayward franchises, Parcells rebuilt the Giants, Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys. In 2003, he became the first NFL coach to take four different teams to the playoffs.
So if standings were kept for Hall-of-Fame legacies, those belonging to Parcells and Belichick would be right where the Dolphins and Patriots are in today's AFC East — tied. And just to make Donovan McNabb happy, here comes a Sunday faceoff in a season that will someday stand among the tiebreakers between Big Bill and Little Bill.
As the overlord of the 6-4 Dolphins, Parcells (Big Bill) has a chance to make chicken salad out of chicken spit for a fifth franchise. As the overlord of the 6-4 Patriots, Belichick (Little Bill) has a chance to reach the playoffs without Tom Brady as his point guard.
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| Under Bill Parcells' guidance, the Dolphins have returned to respectability. (Marc Serota / Getty Images) |
Parcells won't be under a headset when the teams meet in what amounts to a win-or-go-home game in Miami, not in body, anyway. In spirit? His relationship with Tony Sparano is not unlike the one Edger Bergen shared with Charlie McCarthy.
This is Big Bill's show, and Little Bill desperately wants it shut down. Back in September, Miami embarrassed the Patriots on their home field with a formation that didn't include a quarterback in the backfield. New England had won a record 21 consecutive regular-season games before running into the Dolphins, who had lost 20 of their previous 21. That's why Belichick had this to say of Parcells' reemergence in the AFC East:
"I don't like it. I think Bill's record speaks for itself. He's rebuilt a lot of programs and he's done it very quickly. I spent obviously a lot of time with Bill and I have a lot of respect for him with what he does and how well he does it. I hate to have to compete against that in this division ... "
The Parcells-Belichick relationship is far more complex and fascinating than whatever exists between Belichick and Eric Mangini, who's yet to earn his place on the big-boy side of the pool. By helping Parcells win his two championships with the Giants, and by helping him reach a third Super Bowl with the Patriots, Belichick established himself as one of the greatest defensive coaches of all time.
His strategy for the Giants' second Super Bowl shaped the coordinator's legend. Belichick promised his unit that if it allowed Thurman Thomas to rush for more than 100 yards (he did), the Giants would win the game (they did).
Later, after Belichick failed in his first head coaching job in Cleveland, his second marriage with Parcells nearly made champions out of the Patriots and Jets. But Big Bill did not consider Little Bill an equal partner. On occasion, Parcells ripped into Belichick in front of players and staff.
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| Bill Belichick's coaching legacy grows every year. (Jim Rogash / Getty Images) |
"He'd always walk away with his head down," one prominent Jet said of Belichick, "cursing under his breath."
The relationship was in tatters when Parcells resigned as coach of the Jets, named Belichick his successor, and then watched in horror as Little Bill immediately resigned in his infamous "HC" of the "NYJ" news conference. Belichick wanted to get away from Parcells, and he knew he had an offer waiting for him up north.
Once on the same side in the divisional border war — Belichick agreed to serve as the Jets' shadow coach until they could free Parcells from his New England contract — Big Bill and Little Bill became mortal enemies.
Parcells would demand and receive a first-round pick from the Patriots for Belichick's services. For payback, Belichick would lend credence to a report that Parcells had lost track of the score at a critical endgame time in the Jets-Pats opener in '99, and would confirm in Michael Holley's book, "Patriot Reign," that Parcells spent the week of the Pats-Packers Super Bowl romancing his future employer, the Jets.
"Totally inappropriate," Belichick called it.
Theirs was hardly the first feud between an iconic mentor and an iconic protege (see Knight, Bob and Krzyzewski, Mike). But much like it did in the Knight-Krzyzewski divorce, time healed most of the Parcells-Belichick wounds.
Only now Big Bill and Little Bill are back in the same division, locked inside a steel cage match. Who's carrying a better record and legacy into Dolphin Stadium on Sunday?
NFL Week 17
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Week 17 action
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Vikings 20, Giants 19 -- Recap | Box
Panthers 33, Saints 31 -- Recap | Box
Packers 31, Lions 21 -- Recap | Box
Falcons 31, Rams 27 -- Recap | Box
Texans 31, Bears 24 -- Recap | Box
Patriots 13, Bills 0 -- Recap | Box
Colts 23, Titans 0 -- Recap | Box
Steelers 31, Browns 0 -- Recap | Box
Raiders 31, Bucs 24 -- Recap | Box
Bengals 16, Chiefs 6 -- Recap | Box
Eagles 44, Cowboys 6 -- Recap | Box
Dolphins 24, Jets 17 -- Recap | Box
49ers 27, Redskins 24 -- Recap | Box
Ravens 27, Jaguars 7 -- Recap | Box
Cardinals 34, 'Hawks 24 -- Recap | Box
Chargers 52, Broncos 21 -- Recap | Box
Analysis
Video
Photos
Again, Belichick has the 3-2 lead in Super Bowl titles, and was right there at Parcells' side for all four of Big Bill's trips to a conference championship game. Belichick owns the postseason advantage with a record of 15-4; Parcells is 11-8. In their lone head-to-head matchup in the playoffs, Cleveland's Little Bill knocked out New England's Big Bill in the first round.
Belichick built a dynasty in New England that Parcells never built anywhere. Little Bill posted the NFL's only 16-0 regular season (Big Bill's best was 14-2). Belichick also can claim that his coach-quarterback partnership with Brady is as devastating a 1-2 punch as the league has seen, right there with Bill Walsh and Joe Montana.
But Parcells was never fired (Belichick was canned in Cleveland) and he never had back-to-back losing seasons; Belichick had three straight losing seasons with the Browns, and four losing seasons in five tries. Big Bill took over the Patriots after they'd suffered four consecutive double-loss seasons, including a 1-15 and a 2-14, and made two playoff appearances in four years, including the Super Bowl trip. Little Bill took over the Patriots after they went 38-26 in the previous four seasons and went 5-13 before a Mo Lewis hit on Drew Bledsoe introduced Tom Brady to the world.
Parcells took the Giants to five postseasons in eight tries after the franchise had missed the playoffs 18 times in the previous 19 seasons. After the Jets managed all of six winning seasons in the 28 they played between their sport-altering victory over Baltimore and Parcells' arrival, including the 1-15 season Big Bill inherited, Parcells had them 30 Mile High minutes away from the Super Bowl in his second year.
The Cowboys finished 5-11 three straight times before Parcells showed up and immediately made them a playoff team. In his first year with Miami, Parcells has molded yet another lost 1-15 cause into a 6-4 wild-card hopeful.
He's done it with a noodle-armed quarterback, Chad Pennington, just like he did it in Dallas with Quincy Carter. Though he was once fortunate enough to have Phil Simms on his side, Parcells never had a Brady — an all-time great — at the game's most important position.
Belichick is 101-27 with Brady, 47-62 without. It's no indictment, just a fact. Spygate, on the other hand, is both.
It all adds up to an unruly mess of a stat sheet, and one that leaves Big Bill and Little Bill tied midway through the fourth quarter. No, Parcells and Belichick both can't make the playoffs this year.
But if the Patriots get there without Brady, or if the Dolphins get there off a 1-15, someone's legacy is going to take a one-game lead in the standings.
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