Should Dolphins be miffed that Parcells recommended Ryan to Jets?
Former NFL player Marcellus Wiley once told me that if you took Bill Parcells out to a practice field and told him he only had five minutes to evaluate 100 players, he could still tell you the strengths and weaknesses of every man on that field to a T. So it’s not surprising that the “Big Tuna” knew that Rex Ryan was going to be successful in the NFL.
According to a ESPNNewYork.com report, Parcells advised Jets’ GM Mike Tannenbaum to hire Ryan two years ago. In fact, had Parcells not be so close with current Dolphins’ head coach Tony Sparano when they two of them coached together in Dallas, he would have hired Ryan in Miami.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Parcells said.
“I was very impressed with Rex when I met with him,” Parcells said Tuesday night by phone. “I could just sense that, ‘Hey, this guy’s going to have a chance.'”
“I had a fierce rivalry with Rex’s father when I was coaching the Giants,” Parcells said, “but I held Buddy in high regard. What made Buddy a dangerous adversary was that he knew what he was looking for personnel-wise, and Rex is the same way. That’s a pretty good head start for Rex because there are quite a few coaches in this league who don’t know what they’re looking for.”
Parcells was very clear in the interview that he takes no credit for Rex’s development, or even for Tannenbaum’s decision to hire him. And why would he? He still receives paychecks with the Miami Dolphins’ logo on it, so why would he want to admit to helping a division rival?
But here’s the thing: that’s exactly what he did. Give Tannenbaum credit for pulling the trigger on Ryan, but there’s no doubt that Parcells nudged him in the right direction. He’s Bill Parcells. The man knows football and can spot talent while blindfolded and drunk on scotch. Tannenbaum may have been leaning towards hiring Rex all along, but would anyone be surprised if his mind wasn’t completely made up until after Parcells shared his opinion? I wouldn’t.
As a football fan, I will forever been impressed with Parcells’ knowledge of the NFL. His ego is the size of Jerry Jones’ bank account but I don’t question for a second that he knew Ryan would be successful.
That said, if I were a Dolphin fan I’d be fuming after reading this. Parcells had a small hand in hiring Rex Ryan? Really? Is that the same man that has taken the Jets to two straight AFC title games while Sparano has overseen two straight losing seasons in Miami? The same Sparano whom Parcells hired three years ago instead of Ryan? Gee, thanks, Tuna.
Granted, Parcells’ involvement with the Jets’ hiring Ryan could have been as simple as him telling Tannebaum, “Hey Mike, you might want to take a long look at Rex Ryan.” If that’s the case, then this story isn’t a big deal and again, we should bask in Parcells’ greatness as a talent evaluator. (Plus, there’s no guarantee and no way of knowing that Ryan would have succeed in Miami had Parcells hired him for the Dolphins job.)
But considering the current state of the Miami Dolphins, I wouldn’t be thrilled if I were a Dolpfan right now.
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Posted in: NFL
Tags: 2011 NFL Playoffs, Anthony Stalter, Bill Parcells, Miami Dolphins, Mike Tannenbaum, New York Jets, Rex Ryan, Tony Sparano
Maybe Jets fans can now give Parcells the “Thank You” he deserved long ago for starting the rebuilding process of what has turned out to be the most successful period of their existence. The Jets have just 3 losing seasons in the 14 years since Parcells first became their head coach. In the 14 years before him, they had 9 losing seasons.
As a long time Jets Fan that nearly jumped off the Brooklyn bridge when they hired that X-Giant it does no good to learn that he recomended anybody.
The only thing he left us was poor and without a Coach in that famous Sunday night retirement stunt he pulled on us. Remmeber Belichick?
If fact, most of the guys he brought in are long gone, his x-Giants did little and only years later did Johnson & the Jets draft good again.
Don’t get me started on that guy….
P S Check with Tampa & The Falcons because he left both of them high and dry when it came to contract hiring.
He’s a hero to Giant Fans only
P S Check with Tampa & The Falcons because he left both of them high and dry when it came to contract hiring.
Twice when it came to the Falcons.
You can’t deny, he left the team in better shape than the shit hole he walked into…and you wouldn’t be where you are today if not for him. They had zero direction in that organization.
And I didn’t realize he signed a contract with Tampa or Atlanta. Unless you guys know something I don’t.
That’s a good point about him not signing a contract with Tampa or Atlanta. Teams know that Parcells’ word is only worth the spit it took to get it out of his mouth.
The King of Leverage, he is.
Why should the owners have all the control? Good to see a coach take control of their own destiny. He’s got the juice to be able to do that…good for him.
Would you be saying the same thing if a player did that? Answer honestly…
Yes. Brett Favre did it for how many years now?
And you don’t think Favre is kind of a douche-weasel because of it?
Coaches are also in a different situation…they are considered management but sign contracts similar to a player. However they don’t have the union strength that players do to protect them (see Tom Cable). So no, I don’t begrudge a coach taking his situation into his own hands at all, especially when the scenario under which he signed that contract, changes.
What was Favre’s motivation? I’m sure not the same as Parcells’. Different scenario but yes, Favre was a douchebag.
That’s a good point, T-Bone. I still think Tuna is a turd for giving his word to owners only to leverage a better deal, but that’s a good point.
I’m sure if it was my team he screwed over, I’d think he was douche waste as well.
As a Falcon fan, I’m actually elated that we didn’t wind up with Parcells because we’d have Chad Pennington (and/or Chad Henne…ugh) instead of Matt Ryan and Tony Sparano instead of Mike Smith.
So three cheers for Thomas Dimitroff.
2 Biggest assholes in sports:
George Steinbrennar
Bill Parcells