I don't know if he will handpick the next coach..in fact, I doubt he'd do more than recommend guys he thinks could be interviewed.
Bill ran the whole show with the Jets, and when he left he recommended a GM to Woody Johnson..and expected that GM and owner together would pick their HC. Johnson was just a rookie owner, and took Bill's advice. But Jerry has rings, stature, and history...so I doubt Bill would think he had any right to 'handpick' a successor.
Love or hate Bill, what he needs major props on this year is his handling of Owens. Yes, we were lucky that 'timing' was on our side. For example, had the spitting episode occured early in the season, the groundswell of 'cancer, sure to destroy' momentum would have been hard to tamp down. But by the time the most egregious action took place, Bill had already chilled the ambiance with months of benign Owens neglect.
Neither Owens, nor the press has been able to get a public rise out of Parcells. Certainly the public accusation of Haley as the 'snitch' was as infuriating to the staff-loyal Tuna as TO's telling Brad Childress not to address him unless he was addressed first was to Andy Reid last year. But Bill didn't lose it - he just carried on and refused to discuss it. Reid overreacted to many if not most of Owens' shenanigans. Bill did not.
Say what you want of Bill's last few weeks coaching, no one can deny he has been brilliant to perfect this year minimizing press attention and the fallout from whatever has actually happened, or almost as insidious, has been alleged to have happened. BP has kept the lockeroom free of division by ignoring the distractions and staying consistent with the 'my job is to get the best out of the player' line. Cynics may say he took this tact to distance himself from "Jerry's" decision and player, but I think not. BP knew this strategy was the best for the team - by insisting TO was in no way special, he could do no special harm.
At one point this season, and not too long ago, Terrell Owens actually said "I want to win for Bill Parcells.' That may have been a fleeting emotion, or a result of spending too much time with Terry Glenn, but Owens the Incorrigible still said it.
Can you IMAGINE him saying it of ANY OTHER COACH? EVER?
And of course, wise in the ways of player and human psychology, Bill understood he way to get that kind of devotion from a player is to withhold affection. The more he ignored TO's antics, the more TO apparently succumbed to the desire to make Bill notice him. For the RIGHT reasons - his 'solid play' (as Bill termed it yesterday).
Hilarious!
Good job, Bill. You still push all the right buttons. And it's another reason JJ wants you back next year - he knows a lesser coach and man would have been doing nothing but put out fires all season.
And TO, go out there and do Bill proud this week.
U-R-A-J-O-K-E
Very Nice!
