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Make it happen
There's a good chance Bill Parcells would get Dallas back in the playoff mix. AP |
By Peter King
The biggest mistake people are making about what a misfit Bill Parcells would be in Dallas is this: They think it's 1994. They think Jerry Jones, the formerly petulant Dallas owner, wants to run the whole Cowboy show, and he wants to have all the cameras on him (well, I'll give them that one) and he wants to get all the credit.
That's the way it used to be in Jerry's World. Now he wants to win, and he wants to win even if it means he'd have to take orders from someone to do it.
See, Jones is smart enough to realize that Bill Parcells gives him the best chance to win now. And Jones would trade everything -- power, credit, fame -- to be 10-6 next year and a player in the January pennant race. Anything.
I've heard Jimmy Johnson say this shotgun marriage would never work. I respect Johnson's word; after all, who knows Jerry better? But I don't think Johnson is factoring in what the last six years have done to Jones.
He's fed up with winning five games. He's fed up with averaging 9.5 losses a year over the past six years. He's fed up with also-ran-ness.
I don't believe there's anything nearly final about Jones hiring Parcells. I talked with Parcells late Tuesday afternoon, and he said he still doesn't know if this thing will get done. I don't know either, for sure. But my guess is it will, and my strong feeling is that both men are smart enough to know what the pitfalls are in this marriage, and they'll work hard to avoid them.
Jones knows he's going to have to ask Parcells on draft day: "Bill, what do you think?'' And he knows if Parcells doesn't want a guy, he's not going to take him.
Believe me, that's not going to be a problem with Jones, who just wants someone he trusts to tell him what the right decisions are.
Now, could this thing blow up? It could. Parcells might ask for too much money, though I doubt it. I'm not even sure what too much money is. Jones might not want to pay his $4.5 million a year, or whatever Parcells' rock bottom is.
But I think Jerry Jones never would have gotten on that plane last week to talk to Parcells if he wasn't willing to make him the highest-paid, or second-highest-paid (behind Steve Spurrier's $5-million per) coach in all of football. So I don't think money will be the problem.
In the end, Jones won't blink about control, and I don't think he'll blink about money. Because he needs Parcells, and because he can't stand the thought of hiring another coach who, deep down, Jones can't trust to bring him his fourth Super Bowl trophy.
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Jerry, just say no
Jerry Jones likes the spotlight, but he'd have to share it with Parcells in town. AP |
By Don Banks
Bill Parcells to Dallas would make for a great story. But my hunch is that it would make for a lousy fit. Not because the former Giants-Patriots-Jets head coach and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are too different. Because they're too much alike.
When news of the Parcells-Jones summit surfaced last weekend, I called someone I trust who has both worked for Jones and knows Parcells. Can it work, I asked? Can these two guys, both of whom haven't won in a while, carve out a working relationship that allows them to reach a common goal?
"Somebody would have to change totally from how they've been in the past,'' my source said. "Somebody would have to be night and day different. Bill and Jerry both love the limelight, and being out front. I don't know how they could co-exist.
"Especially when you know how it worked with Jerry and Jimmy [Johnson]. And Bill's worse than Jimmy when it comes to wanting the final say. That's why I don't think Parcells is the guy for Dallas.''
I don't either, and I suspect Jones might already know that. Even though he has a second scheduled meeting with Parcells, that doesn't mean he won't end up making Dolphins offensive coordinator Norv Turner his No. 1 choice. Turner, the former Cowboys assistant, fits with the way Jones runs his team. The autocratic Parcells doesn't.
Some may say my read on the situation is just a clichéd perception of how both Parcells and Jones operate, and that both men could put aside their considerable egos for the good of the organization. To that I say, maybe. But sometimes the caricatures are correct. Sometimes perceptions are reality.
And for the life of me, I can't figure out how any one can view Parcells these days as anything more than a short-term fix. His Patriots tenure lasted four years. He spent just three years on the Jets sideline. Then, after vowing to not "abandon'' the franchise, Parcells hung around just one year in the Jets front office.
As the Bucs found out last season, you dance with Parcells at your own risk. In recent years, his word has become something of a punch line, as he flips and flops his way through things like a fish reeled into a (tuna) boat, always some how explaining away his latest change of heart.
Parcells is a great coach, but I'm not sure he's worth the trouble. Especially when you consider he's just 64-54 in his last seven seasons, including a 3-3 playoff mark. Hiring Parcells would no doubt make a splash. But Dallas, with three head coaches in the past six seasons, needs stability more than anything else, and that's not Mr. Bill's strong suit.
Add it all up, and the call looks obvious to me: The Cowboys should take a pass on Parcells.
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