Parcells can right Falcons' ... no, Dolphins' sinking ship
Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 8:09 AM
It's always dangerous to write about Bill Parcells until the ink on the contract is signed. And even then, it's still risky.
Just hours ago, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank was about to hire Bill Parcells to oversee football operations. Blank said he had an agreement in principle with Parcells, in fact.
So it appeared that Blank was making a bold, smart move to put his floundering franchise on the right track after a brutal season.
But Parcells never makes things easy, and after he told the Falcons that he was considering an offer from the Miami Dolphins, talks fell through.
It looks like the Tuna was trying to play two teams against each other, and it didn't work.
But if the Dolphins -- or heck, any other team -- gets the guy, they're getting somebody good. You can't do better than hiring Parcells to start rebuilding the roster.
The Tuna may not be the coach he once was, which is less a criticism of him than it is of the modern players, Terrell Owens chief among them, who have little use for an old-school hard-ass like Parcells. But it’s yet to be shown that there are many people around who know more about football and football players than he.
He built the Jets into a team that made it to the AFC Championship Game. In Dallas, he put together most of the team that is at the moment the class of the NFC and the favorite to represent that conference in the Super Bowl.
That ability to identify character players who fit into a system will start to pay immediate dividends in Miami.
So, Merry Christmas, Miami ... assuming it happens.
