Parcells

by Bill Parcells

  Not interested in full-time employment, Parcells declined an opportunity to be a color commentator for Monday Night Football, whose rights ESPN had acquired in 2006. The network had wanted to pair Bill Parcells with Tony Kornheiser, the Washington Post columnist in his second year on the job. Parcells sated his football appetite, and earned $1.5 million, by returning to ESPN as a part-time analyst. The network chauffeured him from upstate New York to Bristol, Connecticut, on Saturday morning, then back on Monday night. He starred on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown, and his segments, including “Ten Quarterback Commandments,” earned kudos.

  At Saratoga Springs, Parcells repeatedly expressed his satisfaction to Kelly Mandart with having escaped the stresses of being an NFL head coach. He loved spending time outdoors at the racetrack or focusing on his golf game. But by November 2007 the Saratoga meet had long since been over, and cold weather limited his opportunities on the links. Less than a year after abandoning the sidelines, Parcells was turning into a restless homebody.

  Despite regularly affirming his decision to quit coaching, Parcells had not mentioned one lingering desire: he was still passionate about constructing an NFL team, not as a coach, but as an executive. Parcells disclosed the feeling to Joe O’Donnell, one of the few people with whom he shared such inner thoughts. Since having met in 1994 through Will McDonough, O’Donnell and Parcells had grown close. During the criticism of Parcells in New England after his departure, O’Donnell forcefully defended him. And when O’Donnell’s attempt to purchase the Red Sox in 2002 fell short, Parcells stopped rooting for the baseball team that had been his favorite since childhood.

  On hearing Parcells’s private thoughts, the high-powered concessionaire who shunned the media spotlight made a second attempt at playing matchmaker. In late November, O’Donnell traveled to Florida for a business meeting with Wayne Huizenga. After the stadium food powwow ended, conversation turned to Huizenga’s 0-11 Dolphins, a source of embarrassment for him. Already out the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year, Miami was flirting with NFL ignominy by threatening to finish the regular season without a victory.

  Huizenga revealed his intention to make drastic changes in 2008, implying that they would include dismissal of head coach Cam Cameron and GM Randy Mueller. O’Donnell pounced. “Who are you going to hire? What’s your thinking? You know, Bill Parcells is ready to go back into football.”

  The news surprised Huizenga. “Well, that’s very interesting.”

  Huizenga expressed regret that he had decided not to pursue Parcells in early 2003. The Cowboys were now leading the NFC East under Wade Phillips, headed toward a 13-3 mark, and Huizenga noted that before retiring Parcells had helped to provide Jerry Jones with a championship-caliber team. Nonetheless, the Dolphins boss voiced skepticism about Parcells agreeing to join his organization.

  “I doubt he’ll come here. He’s always retiring and unretiring. And I’ve got to move on this.”

  O’Donnell replied, “If you’re serious, you should talk to him. If it doesn’t happen, you’ve lost nothing.”

  Wayne Huizenga owned a golf club in Palm City with only two members: him and his wife, Marti. On three hundred acres of lush greenery, the Floridian Golf & Yacht Club consisted of four guest cottages, two helicopter pads, a marina, and a clubhouse. Huizenga extended honorary memberships, at no charge, to close friends like O’Donnell, relatives, and associates. High-profile honorees included actor Michael Douglas, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, and businessman Jack Welch.

  In early 2001, O’Donnell had introduced Parcells to Huizenga after bringing the former Jets boss to the eighteen-hole course as a guest. Within weeks the Dolphins owner sent Parcells an invitation letter conferring an honorary membership. The privilege required annual renewal via the letter, which Parcells kept receiving. “So I must not have driven into the flowers,” he jokes, “or anything like that.” Occasionally, Parcells took friends, or his grandson, Kyle. Through infrequent and casual encounters at the club, Parcells and Huizenga became friendly.

  “My impression of Bill Parcells had been that he was a hard-ass coach, boisterous, loud, pounding on everybody all the time to make things happen,” says Huizenga. “But when I met him, he was different. He was nice, quiet, soft-spoken. I guess that’s the old saying: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ You expect the big guy to be a bear, roaring all the time.”

  During the six years that the bearish ex-coach and the Dolphins owner interacted at the Floridian, their conversations were virtually sports-free. The exception took place soon after Miami acquired quarterback Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees. Curious about the Dolphins’ decision, Parcells asked Huizenga about the organization’s medical evaluation of Brees.

  Wayne Huizenga and Bill Parcells had never spoken on the phone until the owner called on December 5, 2007. Huizenga got straight to the point. “Hey, Bill, we’re going to get rid of a lot of coaches here. We’re going to create a different mind-set. Joe said that that’s something that would interest you.”

  Parcells replied, “I’m kind of burned out from coaching. I’d rather do something more on the acquisition-and-development side. I’m getting too old for the coaching stuff.”

  “Well, how about if I fly out and come see you?”

  “Fine.”

  In anticipation of Huizenga’s visit, Parcells spent a few hours analyzing the Dolphins. He researched their roster, salary-cap situation, and draft positioning. Surprised at the depth of Miami’s problems, Parcells described the team as being like a “dog’s lunch.” He added, “It’s a mess. You ever see a dog eating lunch? Shit slopped all over the bowl and out on the floor? That’s what it is.”

  Parcells viewed the likelihood that the Dolphins would receive the top overall pick for the 2008 draft as a double-edged sword, “because if you make a mistake, you can hinder the team for five more years.” Despite management’s having allocated an inordinate amount of cap space to the defense, the unit was one of the NFL’s worst. And in a league increasingly reliant on passers, Miami lacked a franchise quarterback. Nonetheless, Parcells felt intrigued by the challenge.

  One appealing aspect of the job was that it wouldn’t require regular appearances at the stadium. He viewed the Dolphins as his final chance at a unique position in the NFL before permanent retirement. Acknowledging that he was an acquired taste—“I’m not for everybody,” he says—Parcells felt compatible with Huizenga. “For all his success in business, Wayne is very down-to-earth,” Parcells says. “He’s one of the guys. He’s also a good listener. I like to talk to him because his viewpoints are interesting. He’s been around the block and accomplished a lot, but he’s a very commonsense guy. I like guys like that.”

  Parcells had learned some hard lessons about ownership changes, so he intended to seek a contractual contingency clause to protect him should Huizenga sell the team or die. If negotiations fell through, Parcells had a backup plan: accepting a proposal to star as a judge in a reality TV show, beginning in 2008, about obscure football players training to make an NFL roster. If things worked out, Parcells intended to court his close friend Dan Henning, whose football IQ he had long respected, for a senior management position. The sixty-five-year-old was available, retired after being dismissed as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator earlier in the year.

  First, though, on December 8, Parcells telephoned Jeff Ireland. “I want to ask you a hypothetical question. What if I go somewhere and I offer you a general manager’s job?”

  Ireland replied gleefully, “I’m in.”

  “It might be Calgary.”

  “I’m in!”

  Parcells loved the response, and instructed Ireland to keep the possibility secret, even from his wife. “If you tell Rachel, I’ll kill you. When it comes to secrets, one and one makes eleven.”

  The next morning, Parcells tipped off Mandart. “Kelly, you might have to start looking for a house in Florida.”

  Mandart replied, “What are you talking about? Here
we go again, Bill.”

  The first four months of 2008 could be demanding and intensive, Parcells told her, while he started putting a structure in place and prepared for the draft. However, Parcells emphasized that during the regular season his hours would be reasonable compared to his coaching days. He expected to be home each day by 7 p.m., and by skipping team travel, he’d be around on weekends, too.

  Kelly Mandart was up for the new endeavor so long as her relationship with Bill Parcells progressed toward marriage and offspring. The subject had caused tension because of Parcells’s reluctance to father children at his age. Meantime, Parcells insisted that Mandart not tell anyone, even relatives, about the Dolphins possibility. She recalls, “He tells me, ‘Don’t even tell your mother.’ I said, ‘Don’t you tell me what I can and cannot tell my mother.’ ”

  One week later, Parcells’s agent Jimmy Sexton received a call from the Atlanta Falcons inquiring about his client’s services. Their head coach Bobby Petrino had quit with three games left, one day after quarterback Michael Vick received a twenty-three-month sentence for involvement in a dog-fighting ring. The feeler surprised Parcells mainly because he had no ties to owner Arthur Blank. However, with the Falcons headed to a 4-12 finish, Blank had done extensive homework on Parcells, including consulting Jerry Jones.

  Parcells updated his girlfriend on the latest employment possibility, adding, “But I’m not doing anything that you don’t want me to do.” Mandart was not quite buying it. She knew that Parcells, the quintessential control freak, added the caveat to deflect pressure, or to charm her.

  Mandart replied, “Well, if it’s something you really want to do—”

  Parcells interrupted. “Well, I don’t want to coach.”

  “You say that now, but are you going to be able to stay in the background when you don’t like what the coach is doing?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “It’s so nice that these people still want you, and that now they’re even fighting over you.”

  Parcells beamed. “Yeah, it is.”

  Mandart recalls the exchange. “He’s human, and he has insecurities. He definitely likes to be liked, and wants to be wanted.”

  On Tuesday, December 11, Wayne Huizenga flew to Albany on his private Boeing 737, which Parcells likened to a “luxury hotel.” Then the Dolphins owner drove to Saratoga Springs for lunch at Parcells’s favorite restaurant: the West Side Stadium Cafe. When he was informed of the meeting, Sexton admonished his client for arranging it at a public place. At least the billionaire owner, sixty-nine, looked inconspicuous in a zip-up jacket and khakis, and the resident coaching legend, sixty-six, wore a sweater and corduroys.

  Most of the two-hour talk covered Parcells’s past football stints. Parcells expanded on the reasons he no longer wanted to coach. When Huizenga suggested that Parcells become Dolphins GM, the ex-coach declined. Huizenga wanted to know what aspects of football still excited Parcells after such a lengthy career, and Parcells quickly responded that it was building a team, specifically the talent-acquisition area. Huizenga said, “Well, how about being head of our football operations, not as a general manager or as coach. Both of them would report to you.”

  Parcells replied, “Well, that’s interesting.”

  “We’ll make you executive vice president of football operations. The only thing you’re not in charge of is suites and ticket sales.”

  Parcells laughed. “I’d like to do something like that.”

  The Dolphins owner suggested a three-year deal, but a potential hurdle entered the equation when Huizenga revealed that he was considering selling part of the team for estate reasons: his death before a sale would cost his family, including his four children, an estimated $450 million in estate taxes.

  While understanding the importance of such a consideration, Parcells voiced concerns about working under a new owner. Huizenga insisted that even with a partial sale he would maintain control of the team, shielding Parcells from any interference. NFL rules required at least one owner to hold a majority stake in the franchise for ultimate authority.

  Satisfied with the assurances, Parcells told Huizenga that he would make an official decision on Tuesday, December 18. The meeting ended with both men optimistic about a future together. However, just two days after the lunch meeting, a real-estate mogul based in New York who’d grown up in South Florida stunned Huizenga with a gigantic offer to buy the entire club. The proposal came from Stephen Ross, chief executive officer of the Related Group, who had been among the finalists for the Jets after Leon Hess’s death in 1999. Ross offered Huizenga more than $1 billion, whereas Huizenga had paid $138 million for the Dolphins in 1994 after having acquired the home arena from the heirs of owner Joe Robbie. Ross’s heady offer complicated Huizenga’s discussions with Parcells.

  Parcells recalls, “So I get to thinking, ‘Well, I’m not going there if he sells this team.’ But deep down, that’s where I wanted to go: Miami. I knew Wayne already; I didn’t know Blank. And I had a place down in South Florida.”

  On December 13, Arthur Blank telephoned Parcells to discuss a position with the Falcons. When Parcells conveyed his lack of interest in coaching or becoming a traditional GM, Blank made a proposal similar to Huizenga’s: sign as Atlanta’s vice president of football operations. Near the end of the phone call, Parcells revealed his recent sit-down with Huizenga, prompting Blank to insist on a face-to-face meeting the next day. With Parcells’s blessings, Blank traveled to Saratoga Springs on December 14.

  Parcells met with Blank for several hours at the West Side Stadium Cafe, and once again Parcells focused on obtaining a role that would empower him to hire a GM and head coach. Once Blank accepted the parameters, Parcells revealed his December 18 deadline, only five days away, to decide on which job to take. After a December 17 appearance on Monday Night Countdown, Parcells left Bristol, Connecticut, with Jimmy Sexton. Given the impending deadline, Sexton planned to sleep at his client’s home; their attorney was flying overnight from Memphis to vet any contract offer. During the ride, Parcells telephoned O’Donnell to find out the latest information on the Dolphins.

  “Joe, what the hell is going on here? Is Wayne selling this team?”

  O’Donnell responded that unfortunately the situation had turned fluid.

  Early the next morning—deadline day—Parcells telephoned Huizenga to seek confirmation about reports of an imminent sale. The owner conceded that circumstances had changed because of Ross’s aggressive bid for the entire club. Parcells asked, “So they may make you an offer you can’t refuse? And you might take it?”

  Huizenga replied, “Yeah, that might happen. But I’ll know by tomorrow at eleven o’clock.”

  “Well, you understand that I have to do what I have to do, too.”

  “Well, I’m hoping you can hold off until tomorrow.”

  After hanging up with Huizenga, Parcells telephoned Blank to talk further about joining the Falcons. Key aspects of a potential agreement needed clarification, including finding a new role for GM Rich McKay. Parcells told Blank, “Look, I’m still not one hundred percent sure, but what we talked about last Friday sounds pretty good.”

  Blank pounced. “I want to fly up there tomorrow, and bring my attorney.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “No, I want to do it.”

  “Okay.”

  That night, Blank e-mailed Parcells a boilerplate contract covering four years, one year longer than Huizenga’s proposal. Meanwhile, the New York Daily News and ESPN.com posted articles quoting Parcells on the likelihood of his joining Atlanta. Parcells publicly revealed that he would be meeting Blank the next day, December 19, to iron out details on a contract.

  Wednesday morning at around 10 a.m., Blank phoned Parcells to say that his private plane had landed in Albany; the owner and his attorney would be at the house in about thirty minutes. After hanging up, Parcells called Huizenga.

  “Lookit, Blank is on the way.”

  Huize
nga responded, “Can you hold him off? I’m going to know about a sale shortly.”

  Parcells replied, “I can’t stop the guy from coming. This is a free country. He’s en route; he’s on the ground. He’s told me, ‘I’ll be there in a half hour.’ ”

  Huizenga promised to call Parcells by 11 a.m.

  Uncertainty about Huizenga’s situation made everyone in Parcells’s household jittery. The group hoped that Huizenga would telephone shortly with news that the sale had collapsed. Parcells wanted to buy time, so he decided to temporarily leave the premises with Sexton and his attorney. He instructed Mandart to stick around for Blank.

  “If Arthur comes, tell him we’ll be right back—that I just took Jimmy for a tour of the town.”

  The threesome left in Parcells’s black Cadillac at 10:15 a.m. Almost forty-five minutes later a black SUV with Arthur Blank in the front passenger seat pulled into Parcells’s driveway. Stepping out of the car in a brown leather jacket, Blank held a paper shopping bag. When he rang the doorbell with his attorney, Kelly Mandart greeted them. She explained that Parcells was giving Sexton, on his first trip to Saratoga, a tour of downtown, and that they would return within a few minutes.

  Blank reached into the shopping bag and removed three packages, gift-wrapped in white paper.

  “My wife and I went shopping for you last night. We wanted to get you some books on Atlanta so you can learn about the city.”

  Mandart replied, “Oh, thank you. That was so nice. And please thank your wife for me.”

  Parcells and company returned shortly after eleven. After everyone exchanged introductions and handshakes, Kelly told Parcells, “Arthur and his wife bought some books for me to familiarize myself with Atlanta.”

  Parcells replied, “Oh. That was nice.”

  A few minutes later, Parcells cornered Mandart within earshot of Sexton. Handing his cell phone to her, he whispered, “If you see area code 954, answer it. It’ll be Wayne. Don’t call me out of the meeting; that’s disrespectful. Just tell Jimmy the phone’s for him.”