Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick have a long, complicated history. Their actions have impacted several NFL organizations, including the New England Patriots and New York Jets.
One of the duo’s most chaotic events involved the Jets’ head-coaching job, which Belichick assumed for one day in 2000, following Parcells’ temporary retirement, before resigning and joining the Patriots later that offseason. Parcells details the strange split in his memoir, “Parcells,” which is scheduled to be released Oct. 28.
“He made a deal and then tried to get out of it,” Parcells wrote of Belichick, according to an excerpt. “A deal’s a deal. You want out? You’re going to pay. Simple.”
Belichick had been Parcells’ defensive coordinator and assistant head coach with the Jets from 1997 through 1999. Parcells arranged with the organization for Belichick to become his successor, but Belichick threw a curveball and announced his resignation at a press conference originally scheduled to announce his hiring as New York’s new head coach. Belichick had concerns about the Jets job because the franchise’s ownership situation was unclear.
Belichick later was hired as the Patriots’ head coach, and the rest is history. The Pats have won three Super Bowls with Belichick at the helm, while the Jets still haven’t claimed a title since 1968.
As the New York Daily News’ Gary Myers wrote in June, Parcells and Belichick “engaged in a cold war” until the summer of 2006, when a dinner with Marty Schottenheimer helped ease the tension. Parcells and Belichick have since buried the hatchet, which Parcells acknowledges in his memoir.
“I didn’t begrudge Bill getting another job somewhere else,” Parcells wrote. “In fact, I’m probably the one that got it for him.”
Another interesting wrinkle in the eventful NFL plot is that Charlie Weis, Belichick’s former defensive coordinator with the Patriots, lobbied for the Jets’ head-coaching job following Belichick’s resignation, according to Parcells. Things turned sour for Parcells when Weis testified on Belichick’s behalf at a grievance hearing.
“I’ve told many coaches that friendship and loyalty is going to be more important than ambition,” Parcells wrote. “Some guys don’t realize that until after they’re done.
“I don’t bear animosity toward Charlie. I can say that with a straight face because I know what he is. His actions back then don’t bother me anymore.”
All seems amicable now. But it wasn’t always that way.
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