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Jetting away Parcells' decision to quit was the right choice
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King appeared Tuesday night on CNN's Sports Tonight and spoke with Vince Cellini and Fred Hickman about the NFL: Vince Cellini: Why wouldn't Bill Parcells stick around a little longer until a new Jets head coach is in place, or until the draft? Explain the thinking here ... Peter King: Well, I'm sure he could stick around, but if I'm the owner of the New York Jets, I don't want him to. Parcells has already put two coaches in place and within 12 months they both walked out. If I'm Jets owner Woody Johnson, the only thing I'm interested in right now is a long-term, four- or five-year plan. I want a general manager in place who wants to be with the Jets for a long time. I want a head coach in place who wants to be with the Jets, who's not going to leave when his alma mater comes calling. A year ago, when Parcells quit coaching, he told Johnson flat-out, "I'll stay for a year and at the end of the year, we'll see where we are." There's no sense for Parcells to continue on in a job when every week he keeps asking himself -- which he does -- what does he want to do with the rest of his life? He should leave now; he did the right thing in leaving now. There is no way that the Jets should pick anybody right now other than a guy they can trust with their long-term future. Johnson and Parcells have talked about some guys -- Bucs director of player personnel Jerry Angelo, Giants assistant GM Rick Donahue and Chiefs vice president of player personnel Terry Bradway -- who could be good long-term to take the helm of the Jets. Fred Hickman: What does Matt Millen's hiring mean for Gary Moeller? And is there any chance at all that somebody can get Barry Sanders back in football, please? King: I talked to Millen on Tuesday night and one of the things he said was, "I don't know Gary Moeller and I need to get to know him before I can make a decision." To me, what that says is, Millen is not at all convinced that Moeller is going to be his head coach. If I had to guess right now, I'd say Millen is going to dump Moeller sometime in the next few days and get his own guy in there. As far as Sanders goes, friends close to Sanders have told me that Barry is interested in playing football, maybe, and that he really likes Millen, he likes the direction he's going to take this team in. But I've got to tell you: Right now, the Lions have $4 million a year invested in another running back, James Stewart. This is a team that's going to have salary-cap problems. We all know that Sanders is a great player, but he hasn't played football in two years. Do the Lions want to take a guy, as great as he was, and tie up a huge amount of cap money when they don't know how much longer he has or whether he's the same player he was when he walked away?
Hickman: Norv Turner is in as the Chargers' offensive coordinator. But does he want a little bit more out in San Diego? King: I'm sure Turner knew when he looked around at jobs that San Diego was a good opportunity for him. But there were other teams that were interested in him. For instance, the Bucs wanted him very badly; Turner actually spoke to Tony Dungy after Dungy decided to fire his offensive coordinator, Les Steckel. But Turner had already committed to the Chargers. If you are Turner and you're looking for a soft landing spot in pro football, there's no question that the Chargers are the best team for you because there's no place to go but up. Cellini: Will there be a resolution soon to the Dick Vermeil story? King: I think within the next 72 hours commissioner Paul Tagliabue will decide what form of compensation to give the St. Louis Rams. I don't think he'll give the Rams the first-round pick they're looking for, but he'll give them some sort of compensation, possibly a second rounder or a couple of thirds. We could argue all day about what Vermeil is worth, but the fact is last year Kansas City agreed to take a first- and fourth-round pick from Green Bay if the Packers had signed Marty Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer has never won a Super Bowl. Vermeil is a Super Bowl champion coach, he's at least worth what Schottenheimer is. Hickman: Did Michael Vick really have a choice but to declare for the NFL draft? If he waited, he'd probably be taken first in 2002 by the expansion Houston Texans franchise. Where do you see him in the 2001 draft? King: To me, no question, he's a top three pick -- probably he's 1 or 2. The happiest people on the planet are the San Diego Chargers because now they have the ammunition, they have something to trade that first pick for. If you're new general manager John Butler looking at your long-term future, you want to take Vick and put him in Turner's hands. If you're Mike Riley, taking Vick is a license to get fired. Vick's not going to play early next season, he may not play much at all next season. He needs to sit on the bench and develop. The Chargers, if they wanted, could probably get three picks in the top 40 if they were to trade the No. 1 pick. My gut is they're going to pick him. Cellini: If you're the New York Giants trying to cover the Vikings receivers, don't you try to umbrella a bit, rely on a good, solid defensive line to put some pressure on Daunte Culpepper and get help in coverage? What do you do? King: I talked to both Minnesota head coach Dennis Green and offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis on Tuesday and they pointed out that the Vikings have weapons that the Eagles don't. The Giants could put eight men up front toward the line of scrimmage and really concentrate on Donovan McNabb and the running game and not worry about the passing game. But they've got to respect both things with Minnesota. Something to keep in mind about the Vikings: They're not a classic Dome offensive team. In the last two years, they've played two games when it was less than 40 degrees. They won both of them by double-digits, and Robert Smith rushed for a collective 235 yards. This is a team with mashers on the offensive line with a running back who is used to being a mudder. Hickman: Real quick, who wins in the AFC and who wins in the NFC? King: Oakland will win in the AFC Championship Game. The Raiders won't make the special teams gaffes that Tennessee did Sunday. And in the NFC, I like Minnesota. On a nice day, which it's going to be in the Meadowlands, the Vikings will be too diverse offensively for the Giants. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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