Parcells-Belichick protégés' impact growing rapidly

	Patriots coach Bill Belichick (left) hugs his former assistant and current Jets coach Eric Mangini after New England beat New York 37-16 on Sunday. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
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FOXBORO, Mass. -- If it's possible for a 21-point loser to have earned a huge measure of respect this weekend, the New York Jets have done it. New England's victory on Sunday was a 23-16 game with 10 minutes left, and Tom Brady, the best quarterback most of us will ever see, had to convert a huge third-and-eight to prevent the Jets from having one last chance to make a game of it. Then, of course, the roof caved in, and New England romped 37-16.

"They are really good, and they really concerned us coming in,'' Brady said of the Jets in a hallway outside the Patriots' locker room on Sunday. "This is a team that outplayed us and beat us here during the season. We had a lot of respect for them.''

My message this morning is that the Bill Belichick tree -- or maybe more accurately it's the Belichick branch of the Bill Parcells tree -- is yielding some some great football people. And more are coming. Consider:

• The Coach of the Year and runner-up this season come from it. Sean Payton, the winner of the award, coached the formerly ragtag Saints to a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs. He was a smart coach before he joined Parcells' Cowboys staff four years ago; now he's a cunning and calculating one as well, capable of ruthlessness if the situation presents itself.

• Eric Mangini, the runner-up, owes his career to Belichick, who took him out of the Cleveland Browns' PR office 12 years ago and gave him his coaching Ph.D. as Mangini meandered his way through the Browns, Ravens, Jets and Patriots staffs.

• The next in line? This offseason it should be New England vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli's turn, if some smart ownership group is willing to cede full control to Belichick's 41-year-old right-hand man. Pioli loves working for Belichick and has tremendous regard for the Kraft family, which has been very good to him. He could be there as long as Belichick is and he'd be happy, because he's not a wanderlust guy. If he were, he would have taken Seattle owner Paul Allen's $3-million-a-year offer to oversee the Seahawks two years ago. But if a flagship franchise like the Giants, who are losing longtime GM Ernie Accorsi to retirement this month, were to offer Pioli full control over football operations, it could be a perfect match.

Pioli was bitten by the football bug at Giants training camp when Belichick was the boy wonder defensive coordinator two decades ago. Pioli used to go to Giants training camp to study defensive schemes as a Central Connecticut State coaching wannabe. Belichick befriended him and later gave him his first job in the NFL as a scouting gopher with the Browns. Whether the Giants hire Pioli, the pre-eminent personnel man in the game who doesn't have full football control over a team, is one thing, but they should at least make the call to see if he's interested.

(Note: 5:45 p.m. Monday update: The Giants did request and were granted permission to discuss their GM job with Pioli by New England owner Bob Kraft. But shortly after 5 Monday afternoon, Pioli said thanks, but no thanks. But even after Belichick called Giants co-owner and friend John Mara to help sell Pioli to him, it turns out there never really were any negotiations or serious discussions of any kind between Pioli and the Giants. In the end, he decided for a myriad of reasons that the job he has is the one he wants. "I am very honored to be granted the opportunity to discuss a potential position with the New York Giants," he said in a statement released by the Patriots at 5:14 p.m. "I have tremendous respect for the Kraft family, the Mara family, the Tisch family [the Maras and Tischs are the Giants co-owners] and the Giants organization. After careful consideration, and for personal reasons, I am continuing in my current role with the New England Patriots." And so Pioli, seen by many as an elixir for what ails the Giants, will stay with the Patriots, and probably for a long time.)

• New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is another rising star in the Belichick ranks, a John Carroll grad whispering offensive thoughts into the great Brady's ear. Brady and McDaniels are building the kind of relationship you hope a quarterback and coach build, the kind Brady's had only with Charlie Weis since entering the league in 2000.