Parcells to be on WFAN in NY at 5:00pm
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cowboyfan4life2
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Big Dakota;1338390 said:
Im a met fan too, but they have been alot more fair with them these days.
Faerluna
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TruBlueCowboy
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Not entirely word-for-word but pretty much captures the essence of the interview. This was a great one. Really gonna miss this guy. Hope this franchise doesn't go back to what it was before in a few years time. Almost sounds like he would have come back if not for that crushing loss in Seattle. It took everything out of him.
Sounds like you thought about it for a while. What made you decide that this was finally it?
Well... it's difficult only in that respect that you know this is it and you're giving up your life's work. I've said it before, but I'm now at the age that prohibits it. The situation was difficult, but I just felt it was time.
Did the Seattle game play into the decision?
I can't say it didn't have an effect. I did feel our team was capable of doing something in the tournament this year. Even though we didn't finish strong, we were ready to play that Seattle game, and I really felt like we outplayed them and had a good chance to win, but as you know, football is a funny game and things happen. You've seen it with the Byner fumble and various games throughout our league's history where sometimes things just don't go your way. I did feel we would have a chance at Chicago. You never know, I wasn't positive about anything but I felt we were capable of competing at a high level. It was a very disappointing loss.
The world doesn't take decisions on face value. Everyone is guilty of that including us. Is there anything more to this decision? Owens, Jones? Anything else? Was it just your decision and your time?
No. I'll answer a couple parts of that. To the contrary, Jerry Jones and I have a good relationship. He's actually asked me to stay an extra week to help with the transition. He's been great to me and I think very highly of him. I've enjoyed very much my experience in this organization and quite frankly, I've learned a lot about a new way to do business and I think I've benefited from that experience, but Mike, I think this is a mental thing. Physically I know I can do it. But it's a 12 month job, really it's 13 month job! There are really no days when you can relax. I'm at the point mentally where I don't think I can take it again. You know what you have to do. Draft, mini-camp, training camp, preseason, regular season.... just to kick that field goal in Seattle again. I just wasn't mentally up for it again.
Last night I'm watching the basketball game and they promote "Owens disrespects Parcells" on Sportscenter. To his credit, when they finally go to the story, there really was no story. He didn't say anything that was bad at all to be honest with you. He said you were old school, but you're a Hall of Fame coach. There was really no substance to it. While everyone was looking all year, there really wasn't any fire?
When you get a player on your team, no matter who he is, it's your job as a coach to utilize that player and make it work. That's what I tried to do. I tried as best as I could. It wasn't without a few things here and there. But I never felt there was anything insurmountable, or that we had to draw a line in the sand. He did the best he could in his way and I tried to help the best I could, use him the best I could. It wasn't perfect, but that's the way it was, and it was never as problematic as it was portrayed.
I've never seen anyone like him, he's a headline with everything he does. I never liked his act before he was a Cowboys. I sure wouldn't want to be around him and coaching, but everytime he burps it's a headline!
You would have to explain to me the nuances of the media. You fellas would know more than me. I guess controversy is what sells. He's a little bit of a lightning rod obviously because of some past things. But while he was here I can tell you that it was never anywhere near what it was portrayed to be.
You know, if you felt the Cowboys were on the cusp of going back to a Super Bowl... the team did show some inexperiene... if you felt they were on the cusp of winning it all, would you have stuck it out another year?
You know Chris, I think it's my mentality that I would never want to be a figurehead coach. I'm not cut out that way. I felt since I couldn't mentally commit myself to it I would be cheating the players and organization. I just felt like I couldn't give what I know you have to give to just even have a chance to get where you want to go. I felt like it was time. I feel good about it, I'm not going to have any second thoughts.
So it's not like you felt the Cowboys were a ways away. Even if they were close, you still would have made the same decision?
Absolutely.
You'll have second thoughts because you love football! You'll miss it!
I love football, it's been my life. It's hard to let go. It really is very, very difficult to let go. You see coaches who want to come back and do it. But I desperately didn't want to be some guy who is standing up there as a figurehead. I didn't feel like I was one this year. I gave it the best I could, but it just wasn't good enough this time.
How disappointed are you the way your team finished this year? Bill, at Thanksgiving, we all thought you were going to the Super Bowl. You just didn't play well the last 4-5 games.
Very disappointed! I agree 100%. Just something missing. Listen... I've wrestled with this thing in the middle of the night for the last 6-7 weeks. What I do know is, even at the end of the day, I do know we were ready to play that Seattle game, and did play pretty well.
Should have won the game, I agree.
That being said, I just think the team wasn't quite mature enough to know what they should do. They started having some success. It's the same thing that happened to my Giants in 84. It happened a little bit to my New England team in the 3rd year. The players get an inflated opinion of what they are. In Texas here, there's a lot of talk, and a lot of inflated values about the Cowboys, but at the end of the day, we just didn't really have it when we needed it. Now that last game we had it. And I thought if it was going to work out, we would probably have it the next week, but it just didn't happen.
A lot was made of Romo going in. He started out like a house of fire. Was it the case of too much, too soon with Romo? Becoming a superstar overnight. I know that's part of being on the Cowboys, but he was everywhere within a month, did he get too much, too soon?
I think you had to be here to witness it. You guys being 1,500 or 2,000 miles away. It was way worse here than it was nationally. I don't know that. I just think it's difficult for any player who hasn't experienced to go through it. I think he did the best he could but the last 2-3 weeks of the season, in particular that last game, may serve him well in the future in that regard. Because he's been at the pinnacle already, going to the Pro Bowl, and he's been pretty far down in the dumps very quickly, and experienced the entire cycle.
What did you tell him after the game? You said he went all the way up to all the way down, what did you tell Romo after that game or the days after the game?
I've spoken with Romo twice. First for 45 minutes face-to-face, and second, probably two days ago for probably 15-20 minutes ago. And what I spoke about was what I felt he needed to do in the future. I said if you don't do these things, you're going to fail, but if you do this, I think you have a high probability of succeeding. I felt I owed that to him. It was going to be my last coaching conversation with him. I listed the things he needed to work on and pay attention to, because if you look at his numbers, they're darn good, but there are some things there that are kind of hidden, and if he addresses them I think he has a chance to be pretty darn good.
Bill, in your other 3 spots, you had those high moments. With the Cowboys, for whatever reason, you never really had that unbelievable Playoff win, close to a Super Bowl, right there at the tip. How much does that bother you when you leave?
It bothers me Chris, obviously. I felt like i didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. This was the most difficult job I've ever had... by far! We had a very difficult situation going in. We had a couple QB issues the first year or two that really set me back. We didn't know what we had. We had money invested in these players. You know, the cap is a little prohibitive. We had to find out, unfortunately we didn't find out very well. We had to go from there. We never really could get our hands on that position until midway this last year when we started to make some real gains. Overall personnel wise, I think we're far superior. I know the character on the team, and I think the player that is here now is far superior. And I think the expectations of the players now is elevated way above what it was before I got here. Hopefully they can go from here, and I'm trying to help Jerry with that, and I look forward to see what happens in the future.
Can you coach players now the same way you did 10 years ago?
Boy, that's a hard one Mike. I think there are more peripheral people around the players than there were 10-15 years ago. They're feeding them the cheese left and right. They come with more inflated opinions of themselves. Generally, not all, you get these kids, the draft has become a cottage industry, the recruiting process for agents is another industry. It's like the young basketball player who is 6'10" when he's 16 who has been spoiled ever since he was a teenager. You're getting a little of that in the league. But by and large, the kids I think are still highly motivated. I think you can coach them pretty well, I just think the peripheral issues are a little bit more difficult. And of course the salary cap, that's no excuse, everyone is on even ground, but that is a little constraining from time to time.
If I had told you after you left the Giants in '90, you'd go to the Pats, the Jets, and the Cowboys.. 12 years in total I think. If I had told you then you're going to have 12 more years of coaching with 3 different teams, would you have said I'm going to win another Super Bowl?
I probably would have knowing my ambitions then. I know how hard it is to do it. Things have to fall pretty right for you. You know... you start the 3 places I went after the Giants, you know, we were really rebuilding. It takes you a little while to even get on your way, to even have the opportunity. It's no excuse because you have to get the job done, but I felt with some good fortune we might have been able to do something. We got close a couple times but...
...which one bothers you most? The Patriot loss or the Jets in the championship game?
The Jets in the championship game because the team we would have had to play was Atlanta and we had already beaten them by 20 points.
So that game, 10-0 at halftime, if I asked Bill Parcells to chronicle the biggest disappointments in his career, that game?
That game and this Seattle loss in Dallas, the two biggest, absolutely.
You know, tracing those years from the Patriots to the Jets. I can see where the reason with the Jets...usually an injury... Vinny's injury... the Pats injuries... for some reason this team (Dallas) never seemed to catch on the way the other teams caught on. Is it just the modern player or is there some reason why this team (Dallas) always seemed to slip backwards while the other teams always seemed to be climbing in the same direction.
I think we were a little more in transition each time here. I think each year was an entity unto itself. It's definitely centered around the QB position. You know, if we didn't have enough to protect Vinny and Drew a couple of the years they were here, and then we finally had enough to protect and we didn't get the execution from Drew early this season. And then when we switched to Tony, things kind of took off. But our pass protection, our offensive line played much better this year. You know, we scored 425 points, that's 3 points from being the 2nd highest scoring team in the league, so we were putting points up, but then our defense kind of hurt us, particularly in the secondary. Losing Greg Ellis was a big thing for us. He was one of the two real good pressure players we had. We were rolling real good defensively when he was in there. When we lost him they started taking Ware out of the game best they could and then we started having trouble.
Were this team's problems on the defense, more physical or mental this last month?
I think more physical because we were definitely having trouble pressuring the QB well enough to not make the passing game a big factor. They were definitely doing something to block DeMarcus Ware a lot of the time and the other people just weren't getting it done. You know, Greg had 4-5 sacks by the time he got hurt and we were a much more balanced pass rush team and could get pressure on both sides.
It's almost a cottage industry to see how Bill is emoting this year. Some people said, "Boy he doesn't look like he's into it, he looks flat." But when Gramattica made that kick, we saw you excited. Was it really that inconsistent? Some weeks you were really into the team, others you weren't? People misreading it?
Chris, I don't even know what my behavior is. I'm not cognizant of it. It's just an emotional time. Some things happen, the game unfolds in a negative way sometimes. You're so busy trying to concentrate, talk to your coaches, and adjust your strategy, you may look one way, but really it's the same feeling all the time. Obviously when you win the game with a field goal, you're excited about that and it comes out but the same thing, with the disappointment of the last game, you're despondent about that. It's just a natural range of emotions. Not calculated, it's just the way the game flows.
Everyone waited for you to blast Owens on TV. But then they say Bill doesn't have his old fire like he used to. I think America was ready for you to blast Owens on TV, but they say, "Oh Bill doesn't have his old water like he used to."
That's what everyone wanted.
Yeah, and then when you didn't do it they say you have lost your fire!
Well, maybe that was calculated. Maybe that part of it was. Cause I didn't want to give anybody more ammunition then they already had.
But I think that's what the announcers and the game guys and America were waiting for.... that confrontation, because they had been programmed for it all year that sooner or later it would come, and they were looking for it on the games every night.
That may be the case but... they were disappointed, weren't they?
With Bill Belichick, what's your feeling. Part of it is you feel proud, but jeez, you still want to be a better coach than him, whatever that means. What's your thoughts on Belichick and his 3 Super Bowls.
Hey, I think he's done a remarkable job! It's not about being the better coach. We were together 18 years or however many years. I have high regard for him. Contrary to a lot of publicity, we have a real good relationship. We talk frequently. I'm proud of what he's done, it's among the best performances in the history of this league.
Fans bring this up all the time, Belichick is better because you never won a Super Bowl without him. We try to fight them off, but you hear it a little bit. Does it bother you?
Doesn't bother me. We were together a long time, we did a lot of good things together. I think philosophically we're still on par with what we do. I think we believe in the same things. I'm proud of what he's done going forward, as I am a lot of the guys. We have a tribe of coaches now. A lot of them in the league now. Some of them in college football. That makes me very proud.
Were you surprised to see Sean have so much success off the bat?
I think you have to be surprised. That was another remarkable thing accomplished by coaches I worked with. I don't wish bad things on those who have spent a lot of time with me and worked hard for me. I'm happy with their success.
What has surprised you most in the Playoffs? Patriots blowing an 18 point lead to Indy? Or San Diego crumbling there late against the Patriots?
I thought if the Patriots... because Bill and I had talked about this game with San Diego... I thouht if they hanged in they had a shot, and that's what happened. Now there was A LOT of hanging to do, and that was one of the tremendous wins I've seen the Pats have in Bills tenure, and I told him that, and I think he really agreed with me. The second game with the Colts, you know, these guys can erase a lead momentarily. So if they just got a little momentum at the wrong time, and I thought New England's defense might have gotten a little tired but I will say this... When Ray Mickens knocked down that 3rd down pass and the Patriots took possesion, I thought the game was over. I thought they had done enough to win, great play by Mickens, I thought, "Gee, this is it." And then they got that untimely penalty which made it 1st and 15. Had it been 1st and 10, the game would have been over.
Do you give the NFC any chance here? Realistic chance? Tall order for the Bears?
They're going to think you just threw me a softball, but what I'm going to tell you, I'm going to revert back to 1990, what was the score Chris?
49-13 Coach! (laughs).
I think you got a little bit of a parallel circumstance. I think if the game were to unfold where Chicago can keep it close and possess the ball and play good enough defense to keep Indianapolis from spurting out in front, and stay within range or have the lead, I think Chicago has a real good chance. I think if the Colts get on top early, and I don't mean 7-0, I mean 14-17 points, things like that, I think it could become bad. But I think there's a way for Chicago to win. It's going to take a lot of good playing. I think they're capable of doing it, but if it comes down to Chicago catching up by two scores, I think it will be very difficult.
Go back 4 years and I remember what you told me about the Cowboys. I told you, "Why would you want to go work with that guy?!" It didn't turn out that way. Now obviously what you think of him public perception is different than private, but I think it's a shock to everyone that you and he were able to get along so well for 4 years.
He's a very interesting guy Mike. I've learned a lot from being around him. I've learned a lot about the business accumen to run a pro franchise. It was a much different approach than the other franchises I've worked for. I do have a good personal relationship with him. He's been very kind to me. I've enjoyed being in Dallas very, very much. The weather is good, the Cowboys are important, and it's really a good storied franchise.
Is he a little bit more of a daring businessman?
Oh yeah! He's definitely a risk/reward guy. There's no doubt about it. He's willing to take risks and chances, they don't always work out, some of them do. I've learned a little bit of a different approach. We were just sitting here laughing about things today, talking about the future. I'm anxious to see what the Cowboys do, and look forward to good things for them.
Jason Garrett is a part of that now, right?
I'm not priviledged to all of that, but I think there's a definite chance he might be. Of course Jason is a New Jersey kid, I know his dad well, and I've spoken to him several times before, if he is part of that I wish him well, he's a nice bright young man. Went to Princeton, was the QB with the Giants a little bit, so I think he'll do well.
Bill, before I let you go, your proudest NFL moment, and the one moment you wish you could take away?
For proud, I have to use two moments. The proudest moment was when Matt Bahr kicked that field goal against San Francisco to win the NFC Championship on the road with our backup QB. Another proud one was opening night down in Washington. Monday Night Football. When he kicked that one to make the whole stadium go silent. Probably the most disappointing was either Flipper Anderson in '89 catching that pass cause we had outplayed the Rams that day and got beat and I thought that possibly we could win the Super Bowl that year had we gotten by the Rams cause we had the 49ers coming up and we had good success against them, so that one and then the Jets game against Denver at Denver.
You've had 3 great owners. I know I forgot Kraft. You had Leon, Wellington, Jerry Jones.
I've been very forunate. I have great regard for all of them. Kraft and I have kind of mended the fences a bit.
Can you call Kraft?
Oh sure, I think I could, I don't do it much, but I think I could.
What about this week? The stories have been Bill Parcells NFL consultant, or Bill Parcells back on TV? Or None of the above?
I haven't talked directly to anybody yet. I'm just going to move my stuff to Saratoga, a place you guys frequent. We're going to go to Florida. I talked to LaRussa yesterday and he said he had the bullpen job but I said whatever job you give me I want to be at least 10 feet away from you.
I guarantee you stayed up late to watch game 5 and his World Series win even though you like to go to bed early, right?
Hey, I was so happy, I can't tell you how happy I was. It goes to show you, you get in it, anything can happen!
Sounds like you thought about it for a while. What made you decide that this was finally it?
Well... it's difficult only in that respect that you know this is it and you're giving up your life's work. I've said it before, but I'm now at the age that prohibits it. The situation was difficult, but I just felt it was time.
Did the Seattle game play into the decision?
I can't say it didn't have an effect. I did feel our team was capable of doing something in the tournament this year. Even though we didn't finish strong, we were ready to play that Seattle game, and I really felt like we outplayed them and had a good chance to win, but as you know, football is a funny game and things happen. You've seen it with the Byner fumble and various games throughout our league's history where sometimes things just don't go your way. I did feel we would have a chance at Chicago. You never know, I wasn't positive about anything but I felt we were capable of competing at a high level. It was a very disappointing loss.
The world doesn't take decisions on face value. Everyone is guilty of that including us. Is there anything more to this decision? Owens, Jones? Anything else? Was it just your decision and your time?
No. I'll answer a couple parts of that. To the contrary, Jerry Jones and I have a good relationship. He's actually asked me to stay an extra week to help with the transition. He's been great to me and I think very highly of him. I've enjoyed very much my experience in this organization and quite frankly, I've learned a lot about a new way to do business and I think I've benefited from that experience, but Mike, I think this is a mental thing. Physically I know I can do it. But it's a 12 month job, really it's 13 month job! There are really no days when you can relax. I'm at the point mentally where I don't think I can take it again. You know what you have to do. Draft, mini-camp, training camp, preseason, regular season.... just to kick that field goal in Seattle again. I just wasn't mentally up for it again.
Last night I'm watching the basketball game and they promote "Owens disrespects Parcells" on Sportscenter. To his credit, when they finally go to the story, there really was no story. He didn't say anything that was bad at all to be honest with you. He said you were old school, but you're a Hall of Fame coach. There was really no substance to it. While everyone was looking all year, there really wasn't any fire?
When you get a player on your team, no matter who he is, it's your job as a coach to utilize that player and make it work. That's what I tried to do. I tried as best as I could. It wasn't without a few things here and there. But I never felt there was anything insurmountable, or that we had to draw a line in the sand. He did the best he could in his way and I tried to help the best I could, use him the best I could. It wasn't perfect, but that's the way it was, and it was never as problematic as it was portrayed.
I've never seen anyone like him, he's a headline with everything he does. I never liked his act before he was a Cowboys. I sure wouldn't want to be around him and coaching, but everytime he burps it's a headline!
You would have to explain to me the nuances of the media. You fellas would know more than me. I guess controversy is what sells. He's a little bit of a lightning rod obviously because of some past things. But while he was here I can tell you that it was never anywhere near what it was portrayed to be.
You know, if you felt the Cowboys were on the cusp of going back to a Super Bowl... the team did show some inexperiene... if you felt they were on the cusp of winning it all, would you have stuck it out another year?
You know Chris, I think it's my mentality that I would never want to be a figurehead coach. I'm not cut out that way. I felt since I couldn't mentally commit myself to it I would be cheating the players and organization. I just felt like I couldn't give what I know you have to give to just even have a chance to get where you want to go. I felt like it was time. I feel good about it, I'm not going to have any second thoughts.
So it's not like you felt the Cowboys were a ways away. Even if they were close, you still would have made the same decision?
Absolutely.
You'll have second thoughts because you love football! You'll miss it!
I love football, it's been my life. It's hard to let go. It really is very, very difficult to let go. You see coaches who want to come back and do it. But I desperately didn't want to be some guy who is standing up there as a figurehead. I didn't feel like I was one this year. I gave it the best I could, but it just wasn't good enough this time.
How disappointed are you the way your team finished this year? Bill, at Thanksgiving, we all thought you were going to the Super Bowl. You just didn't play well the last 4-5 games.
Very disappointed! I agree 100%. Just something missing. Listen... I've wrestled with this thing in the middle of the night for the last 6-7 weeks. What I do know is, even at the end of the day, I do know we were ready to play that Seattle game, and did play pretty well.
Should have won the game, I agree.
That being said, I just think the team wasn't quite mature enough to know what they should do. They started having some success. It's the same thing that happened to my Giants in 84. It happened a little bit to my New England team in the 3rd year. The players get an inflated opinion of what they are. In Texas here, there's a lot of talk, and a lot of inflated values about the Cowboys, but at the end of the day, we just didn't really have it when we needed it. Now that last game we had it. And I thought if it was going to work out, we would probably have it the next week, but it just didn't happen.
A lot was made of Romo going in. He started out like a house of fire. Was it the case of too much, too soon with Romo? Becoming a superstar overnight. I know that's part of being on the Cowboys, but he was everywhere within a month, did he get too much, too soon?
I think you had to be here to witness it. You guys being 1,500 or 2,000 miles away. It was way worse here than it was nationally. I don't know that. I just think it's difficult for any player who hasn't experienced to go through it. I think he did the best he could but the last 2-3 weeks of the season, in particular that last game, may serve him well in the future in that regard. Because he's been at the pinnacle already, going to the Pro Bowl, and he's been pretty far down in the dumps very quickly, and experienced the entire cycle.
What did you tell him after the game? You said he went all the way up to all the way down, what did you tell Romo after that game or the days after the game?
I've spoken with Romo twice. First for 45 minutes face-to-face, and second, probably two days ago for probably 15-20 minutes ago. And what I spoke about was what I felt he needed to do in the future. I said if you don't do these things, you're going to fail, but if you do this, I think you have a high probability of succeeding. I felt I owed that to him. It was going to be my last coaching conversation with him. I listed the things he needed to work on and pay attention to, because if you look at his numbers, they're darn good, but there are some things there that are kind of hidden, and if he addresses them I think he has a chance to be pretty darn good.
Bill, in your other 3 spots, you had those high moments. With the Cowboys, for whatever reason, you never really had that unbelievable Playoff win, close to a Super Bowl, right there at the tip. How much does that bother you when you leave?
It bothers me Chris, obviously. I felt like i didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. This was the most difficult job I've ever had... by far! We had a very difficult situation going in. We had a couple QB issues the first year or two that really set me back. We didn't know what we had. We had money invested in these players. You know, the cap is a little prohibitive. We had to find out, unfortunately we didn't find out very well. We had to go from there. We never really could get our hands on that position until midway this last year when we started to make some real gains. Overall personnel wise, I think we're far superior. I know the character on the team, and I think the player that is here now is far superior. And I think the expectations of the players now is elevated way above what it was before I got here. Hopefully they can go from here, and I'm trying to help Jerry with that, and I look forward to see what happens in the future.
Can you coach players now the same way you did 10 years ago?
Boy, that's a hard one Mike. I think there are more peripheral people around the players than there were 10-15 years ago. They're feeding them the cheese left and right. They come with more inflated opinions of themselves. Generally, not all, you get these kids, the draft has become a cottage industry, the recruiting process for agents is another industry. It's like the young basketball player who is 6'10" when he's 16 who has been spoiled ever since he was a teenager. You're getting a little of that in the league. But by and large, the kids I think are still highly motivated. I think you can coach them pretty well, I just think the peripheral issues are a little bit more difficult. And of course the salary cap, that's no excuse, everyone is on even ground, but that is a little constraining from time to time.
If I had told you after you left the Giants in '90, you'd go to the Pats, the Jets, and the Cowboys.. 12 years in total I think. If I had told you then you're going to have 12 more years of coaching with 3 different teams, would you have said I'm going to win another Super Bowl?
I probably would have knowing my ambitions then. I know how hard it is to do it. Things have to fall pretty right for you. You know... you start the 3 places I went after the Giants, you know, we were really rebuilding. It takes you a little while to even get on your way, to even have the opportunity. It's no excuse because you have to get the job done, but I felt with some good fortune we might have been able to do something. We got close a couple times but...
...which one bothers you most? The Patriot loss or the Jets in the championship game?
The Jets in the championship game because the team we would have had to play was Atlanta and we had already beaten them by 20 points.
So that game, 10-0 at halftime, if I asked Bill Parcells to chronicle the biggest disappointments in his career, that game?
That game and this Seattle loss in Dallas, the two biggest, absolutely.
You know, tracing those years from the Patriots to the Jets. I can see where the reason with the Jets...usually an injury... Vinny's injury... the Pats injuries... for some reason this team (Dallas) never seemed to catch on the way the other teams caught on. Is it just the modern player or is there some reason why this team (Dallas) always seemed to slip backwards while the other teams always seemed to be climbing in the same direction.
I think we were a little more in transition each time here. I think each year was an entity unto itself. It's definitely centered around the QB position. You know, if we didn't have enough to protect Vinny and Drew a couple of the years they were here, and then we finally had enough to protect and we didn't get the execution from Drew early this season. And then when we switched to Tony, things kind of took off. But our pass protection, our offensive line played much better this year. You know, we scored 425 points, that's 3 points from being the 2nd highest scoring team in the league, so we were putting points up, but then our defense kind of hurt us, particularly in the secondary. Losing Greg Ellis was a big thing for us. He was one of the two real good pressure players we had. We were rolling real good defensively when he was in there. When we lost him they started taking Ware out of the game best they could and then we started having trouble.
Were this team's problems on the defense, more physical or mental this last month?
I think more physical because we were definitely having trouble pressuring the QB well enough to not make the passing game a big factor. They were definitely doing something to block DeMarcus Ware a lot of the time and the other people just weren't getting it done. You know, Greg had 4-5 sacks by the time he got hurt and we were a much more balanced pass rush team and could get pressure on both sides.
It's almost a cottage industry to see how Bill is emoting this year. Some people said, "Boy he doesn't look like he's into it, he looks flat." But when Gramattica made that kick, we saw you excited. Was it really that inconsistent? Some weeks you were really into the team, others you weren't? People misreading it?
Chris, I don't even know what my behavior is. I'm not cognizant of it. It's just an emotional time. Some things happen, the game unfolds in a negative way sometimes. You're so busy trying to concentrate, talk to your coaches, and adjust your strategy, you may look one way, but really it's the same feeling all the time. Obviously when you win the game with a field goal, you're excited about that and it comes out but the same thing, with the disappointment of the last game, you're despondent about that. It's just a natural range of emotions. Not calculated, it's just the way the game flows.
Everyone waited for you to blast Owens on TV. But then they say Bill doesn't have his old fire like he used to. I think America was ready for you to blast Owens on TV, but they say, "Oh Bill doesn't have his old water like he used to."
That's what everyone wanted.
Yeah, and then when you didn't do it they say you have lost your fire!
Well, maybe that was calculated. Maybe that part of it was. Cause I didn't want to give anybody more ammunition then they already had.
But I think that's what the announcers and the game guys and America were waiting for.... that confrontation, because they had been programmed for it all year that sooner or later it would come, and they were looking for it on the games every night.
That may be the case but... they were disappointed, weren't they?
With Bill Belichick, what's your feeling. Part of it is you feel proud, but jeez, you still want to be a better coach than him, whatever that means. What's your thoughts on Belichick and his 3 Super Bowls.
Hey, I think he's done a remarkable job! It's not about being the better coach. We were together 18 years or however many years. I have high regard for him. Contrary to a lot of publicity, we have a real good relationship. We talk frequently. I'm proud of what he's done, it's among the best performances in the history of this league.
Fans bring this up all the time, Belichick is better because you never won a Super Bowl without him. We try to fight them off, but you hear it a little bit. Does it bother you?
Doesn't bother me. We were together a long time, we did a lot of good things together. I think philosophically we're still on par with what we do. I think we believe in the same things. I'm proud of what he's done going forward, as I am a lot of the guys. We have a tribe of coaches now. A lot of them in the league now. Some of them in college football. That makes me very proud.
Were you surprised to see Sean have so much success off the bat?
I think you have to be surprised. That was another remarkable thing accomplished by coaches I worked with. I don't wish bad things on those who have spent a lot of time with me and worked hard for me. I'm happy with their success.
What has surprised you most in the Playoffs? Patriots blowing an 18 point lead to Indy? Or San Diego crumbling there late against the Patriots?
I thought if the Patriots... because Bill and I had talked about this game with San Diego... I thouht if they hanged in they had a shot, and that's what happened. Now there was A LOT of hanging to do, and that was one of the tremendous wins I've seen the Pats have in Bills tenure, and I told him that, and I think he really agreed with me. The second game with the Colts, you know, these guys can erase a lead momentarily. So if they just got a little momentum at the wrong time, and I thought New England's defense might have gotten a little tired but I will say this... When Ray Mickens knocked down that 3rd down pass and the Patriots took possesion, I thought the game was over. I thought they had done enough to win, great play by Mickens, I thought, "Gee, this is it." And then they got that untimely penalty which made it 1st and 15. Had it been 1st and 10, the game would have been over.
Do you give the NFC any chance here? Realistic chance? Tall order for the Bears?
They're going to think you just threw me a softball, but what I'm going to tell you, I'm going to revert back to 1990, what was the score Chris?
49-13 Coach! (laughs).
I think you got a little bit of a parallel circumstance. I think if the game were to unfold where Chicago can keep it close and possess the ball and play good enough defense to keep Indianapolis from spurting out in front, and stay within range or have the lead, I think Chicago has a real good chance. I think if the Colts get on top early, and I don't mean 7-0, I mean 14-17 points, things like that, I think it could become bad. But I think there's a way for Chicago to win. It's going to take a lot of good playing. I think they're capable of doing it, but if it comes down to Chicago catching up by two scores, I think it will be very difficult.
Go back 4 years and I remember what you told me about the Cowboys. I told you, "Why would you want to go work with that guy?!" It didn't turn out that way. Now obviously what you think of him public perception is different than private, but I think it's a shock to everyone that you and he were able to get along so well for 4 years.
He's a very interesting guy Mike. I've learned a lot from being around him. I've learned a lot about the business accumen to run a pro franchise. It was a much different approach than the other franchises I've worked for. I do have a good personal relationship with him. He's been very kind to me. I've enjoyed being in Dallas very, very much. The weather is good, the Cowboys are important, and it's really a good storied franchise.
Is he a little bit more of a daring businessman?
Oh yeah! He's definitely a risk/reward guy. There's no doubt about it. He's willing to take risks and chances, they don't always work out, some of them do. I've learned a little bit of a different approach. We were just sitting here laughing about things today, talking about the future. I'm anxious to see what the Cowboys do, and look forward to good things for them.
Jason Garrett is a part of that now, right?
I'm not priviledged to all of that, but I think there's a definite chance he might be. Of course Jason is a New Jersey kid, I know his dad well, and I've spoken to him several times before, if he is part of that I wish him well, he's a nice bright young man. Went to Princeton, was the QB with the Giants a little bit, so I think he'll do well.
Bill, before I let you go, your proudest NFL moment, and the one moment you wish you could take away?
For proud, I have to use two moments. The proudest moment was when Matt Bahr kicked that field goal against San Francisco to win the NFC Championship on the road with our backup QB. Another proud one was opening night down in Washington. Monday Night Football. When he kicked that one to make the whole stadium go silent. Probably the most disappointing was either Flipper Anderson in '89 catching that pass cause we had outplayed the Rams that day and got beat and I thought that possibly we could win the Super Bowl that year had we gotten by the Rams cause we had the 49ers coming up and we had good success against them, so that one and then the Jets game against Denver at Denver.
You've had 3 great owners. I know I forgot Kraft. You had Leon, Wellington, Jerry Jones.
I've been very forunate. I have great regard for all of them. Kraft and I have kind of mended the fences a bit.
Can you call Kraft?
Oh sure, I think I could, I don't do it much, but I think I could.
What about this week? The stories have been Bill Parcells NFL consultant, or Bill Parcells back on TV? Or None of the above?
I haven't talked directly to anybody yet. I'm just going to move my stuff to Saratoga, a place you guys frequent. We're going to go to Florida. I talked to LaRussa yesterday and he said he had the bullpen job but I said whatever job you give me I want to be at least 10 feet away from you.
I guarantee you stayed up late to watch game 5 and his World Series win even though you like to go to bed early, right?
Hey, I was so happy, I can't tell you how happy I was. It goes to show you, you get in it, anything can happen!
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Wow thanks for the recap.
Chocolate Lab
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Phenomenal job, TBC. 
Juke99
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SkinsandTerps
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Thanks TruBlueC.
You just never know what is going though someones mind sometimes.
You just never know what is going though someones mind sometimes.
percyhoward
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He probably just misspoke...right?