“I’ve heard some stories. It’s nice down here in Miami—summer all year round. I’m enjoying myself, Coach.”
“Good. You making some friends here yet?”
“Yeah, so far, so good.”
“Alrighty.”
Finally Parcells walked over to Jake Long, who was breathing hard after bench-pressing. Alluding to the left tackle’s Pro Bowl season, Parcells said, “You’re farther along. I’ve seen quite a few guys just like you. The thing that takes some of them down is if they can’t make themselves come back in here regularly. That’s when you start slipping.”
The Lapeer, Michigan, native replied, “I’m ready to get going again, Coach.”
“It beats shoveling snow.”
“I went home last week and it was snowing.”
Cornerback was marked as an area of need on Tony Sparano’s defense. In the 2009 draft the Dolphins aimed to land two potential starters at the position. Jeff Ireland used his top pick, twenty-fifth overall, on Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis, whose older brother, Vernon, excelled at tight end for the San Francisco 49ers. In the second round the Dolphins made a provocative selection with the extra pick they had obtained by jettisoning Jason Taylor: West Virginia quarterback Pat White went forty-fourth overall, which seemed high, especially for a passer whose six-foot, 190-pound frame violated Parcells’s draft principles. Nonetheless, Parcells envisioned White adding a special element to the wildcat as a dual threat, in order to counter defenses increasingly effective against it. And Parcells’s scouts, including Jeff Ireland following a trip to see White work out, had praised the quarterback’s abilities.
White had enjoyed a celebrated career at West Virginia, amassing the most-ever rushing yards for a Division I quarterback: 4,480. He also made history as the only quarterback to win four bowl games, and his 34 victories as a four-year starter were among the most in NCAA annals.
The Dolphins used their original second-round choice, sixty-first overall, on Utah cornerback Sean Smith. Drawn to the size of USC wideout Patrick Turner, a six-five, 221-pounder, Miami took him in the third round. Another receiver, Brian Hartline of Ohio State, went in the fourth round. In a solid draft class, Miami would land three quality starters, including their objective of two at cornerback: Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Brian Hartline would turn out to be the best find, developing into a number one wideout. And safety Chris Clemons, a fifth-round pick via Clemson, would turn into a dependable starter. Pat White, though, would end up as one of the worst second-round selections in franchise history, and Patrick Turner wouldn’t last long with the Dolphins, or anyone else, after struggling to create separation from NFL defensive backs.
Jason Taylor’s stint in Washington ended abruptly during the 2009 off-season when they released him, supposedly for declining to participate in voluntary workouts. While Miami was enjoying a rebirth, Taylor had sputtered at an unfamiliar position on the defensive line during an injury-marred season. He missed three games, just one less than he had during his entire Dolphins career. Playing mainly left end, Taylor finished with only 3.5 sacks, his lowest total since 1999. The mediocre production from a player due to earn an $8.5 million salary spurred the possibility of Washington’s demanding a substantial pay cut; ultimately the Redskins decided that the trade to acquire him had been a mistake.
Taylor’s agent contacted Jeff Ireland to discuss the possibility of the linebacker returning to Miami, citing the proximity to his family. The Dolphins’ GM believed that the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year could still contribute to a unit with several promising young players, but Parcells, seeing an athlete in the twilight of his career, recommended that Ireland propose a drastically reduced salary for just one season. On May 13, Taylor accepted Miami’s take-it-or-leave-it offer, $1.1 million plus incentives worth up to $400,000, declining similar interest from the AFC East’s best team in recent years, the New England Patriots.
Stephen Ross’s first major move as Wayne Huizenga’s replacement came on May 8, with a novel idea involving his team’s home building: the Dolphins would rename it Land Shark Stadium for the season in a partnership deal with singer Jimmy Buffett. A local icon identified with the Florida Keys, Buffett owned LandShark Lager, a niche beer distributed by Anheuser-Busch. The arena’s new designation would change to Sun Life Stadium before it hosted Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. As part of the deal with his friend Ross, Buffett also created a team version of his hit song “Fins.”
About a month after partnering with Buffett, Ross persuaded Cuban-born singer Gloria Estefan and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan, to purchase a stake in the Dolphins. Ross saw the move as helping to raise the team’s profile in South Florida’s Latin community, with its strong Cuban population. Before long, Ross attracted four more celebrities as limited partners: pop superstars Marc Anthony and wife Jennifer Lopez, and tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. The boldfaced names all agreed to make appearances at home games in an attempt to increase attendance. And Ross created an “orange carpet,” a nod to the team’s colors, welcoming VIPs before opening kickoffs.
The September 9 issue of Forbes placed Parcells on its cover, observing practice while wearing shades, a white Dolphins T-shirt, and a milliondollar smile. The article by Tom Van Riper, titled “Football’s $300 Million Man,” calculated that Parcells had helped generate that amount for each of the final three teams he coached: the Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys, each of which had gained $1 billion in value as compared to an average league appreciation of $700 million. During Parcells’s Cowboys tenure, which spanned arrangements for a new stadium at Arlington, Texas, the franchise’s worth jumped from $650 million to $1.5 billion. And two years after Parcells’s departure, Forbes ranked America’s Team as the league’s most valuable at $1.65 billion.
Asked by Forbes about the figures, Parcells acted self-deprecating. “I just came along when values were on the upswing.” However, Parcells couldn’t wait to use the Forbes story to needle Jerry Jones about having been underpaid in Dallas. When the magazine hit the stands, Parcells sent his former boss a note.
“According to Forbes, you paid me $295 million too little. My attorney told me to settle for $150 million, and then we’ll move that thing that’s in the way down there at Cowboys Stadium to San Antonio, and put a big Dr Pepper sticker on it. Lawsuit to follow.”
Parcells’s crack about “that thing that’s in the way” referred to the massive high-resolution scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium. Despite costing $1.3 billion, the new arena had experienced an embarrassing debut on August 21 when Dallas hosted Tennessee to open preseason. During the nationally televised game, a punt by A. J. Trapasso of the Titans boomed high into the air before being deflected backward. Officials ruled the ball in play until Titans coach Jeff Fisher informed them that it had struck one of the stadium’s two mammoth screens. By rule, the teams replayed the down. The Cowboys had been touting the arena’s scoreboard, including its twin screens at 160 feet long and 72 feet high, as the largest in the world. The organization tried to certify it in the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest high-definition video screen. Hanging in the middle of the field, Jerry Jones’s brainchild cost roughly $40 million. So in postgame comments, Jones took umbrage when reporters asked whether the scoreboard should be raised. He accused Trapasso of attempting to hit it, noting that the kick from Tennessee’s 37-yard line had been higher, and more centered, than is typical from a punter.
• • •
In his role as executive VP, Bill Parcells spent several hours each day reviewing film. During the off-season he scrutinized each practice on tape only a few hours after having observed the session live. Detecting even slight progress from one of the team’s young players made his day. One time, after noticing a pattern of incomplete passes by Chad Henne that went high, Parcells explained, “When a quarterback overstrides, the ball goes too high. It means you took too long a step. With too short a step, you tend to throw the ball short.” Parcells made a mental note to pass along t
he observation to Henne at their next chance encounter.
During the regular season, Parcells’s film sessions included familiarizing himself with Miami’s upcoming opponents. He often sidled up to players at practice, providing tips tailored to the next game. But to avoid overshadowing Tony Sparano and his staff, Parcells preferred to wait until he ran into players in the hallway, weight room, or cafeteria. His role as part-time coach required a balancing act. A few players saw Parcells as a co–head coach, so whenever they made complaints or suggestions related to, say, a scheme, Parcells responded firmly: “Go see the coach. Don’t talk to me about that.”
Tony Sparano occasionally visited Parcells’s office to discuss the state of the team, and to pick his mentor’s brain. Tapping into his vast experience, Parcells sometimes proactively warned Sparano to prepare for certain scenarios, but most of the time the football boss waited for the head coach to reach out.
The Dolphins again started the season 0-2, but unlike the liftoff at that juncture in 2008, their prospects nosedived on September 27 at Qualcomm Stadium: with the game tied 3–3 early in the third quarter against the Chargers, Chad Pennington tore his right shoulder after being slammed to the ground by linebacker Kevin Burnett. Chad Henne replaced Pennington, and tossed a critical interception during San Diego’s 23–13 triumph.
Pennington underwent a third operation on the troubled shoulder, ending his season and, ultimately, his NFL career. At 0-3, Miami went from being guided by one of the league’s sharpest quarterbacks to being led by a second-year player only starting to learn NFL pass coverages. Flashing his strong arm, Henne led the Dolphins to consecutive home victories against the Bills and Jets, creating some hope, but Miami lost 46–34 to the Saints despite having a 24–3 lead in the second quarter. A Dolphins victory would have been momentous given the unbeaten record of Sean Payton’s team, which had scored at least 45 points in three of its first five games. Instead, the October 25 setback foreshadowed the rest of an injury-marred season, as Tony Sparano’s Dolphins seemed to keep finding ways to lose.
Even some wins came at a cost. During a November 15 victory over Tampa Bay, Ronnie Brown, the wildcat’s catalyst, suffered a season-ending injury to his right ankle. With Ricky Williams thriving as a thirty-two-year-old starter, the Dolphins managed to stay competitive enough to remain in playoff contention. But after having captured the AFC East the previous season, Miami experienced a reality check with Tom Brady’s return plus the Jets boasting the league’s top defense under rookie head coach Rex Ryan.
The Dolphins lost their final three games in relatively close contests to finish 7-9, missing the playoffs, a huge letdown given the previous season. With an increased load due to Ronnie Brown’s absence, Ricky Williams rushed for 11 touchdowns while amassing 1,121 rushing yards. He set an NFL mark by going six years between 1,000-plus-yard seasons, and his 4.7-yard average was the second-best of his career. But ultimately Sparano’s team epitomized mediocrity, with an average offense and subpar defense.
The draft haul by Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells generated little additional production. Backup quarterback Pat White saw minimal action while almost exclusively taking snaps in a spread formation. He did nothing to enhance the wildcat, failing to complete any of his five passes, and rushing just 21 times for 81 yards. Playing in only two games, wideout Patrick Turner went without a catch. Miami managed only nine completions for 30 yards or more, and continued to lack explosiveness at the receiver position. For a franchise whose new owner stressed entertainment, the Dolphins looked out of step with the rest of the pass-happy league. Amid the contrived glitz and the disappointing results, Bill Parcells could choose to opt out of his contract without financial penalty, or attempt to finish what he had started.
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In his fourth season as a head coach, Sean Payton became the latest Parcells disciple to reach the Super Bowl, where his Saints faced the Colts on February 7, 2010, in Miami. Payton had earned kudos for guiding New Orleans to its best record in franchise history, winning 13 straight while eclipsing the NFC mark set by the great 1985 Bears team. He commanded the league’s top offense, featuring Drew Brees with an NFL-record 70.6 percent completion rate. Despite such success, or perhaps because of it, Sean Payton channeled and consulted Bill Parcells more than ever. During the two-week interval before Super Bowl XLIV, Payton phoned Parcells daily for guidance, and the Monday before the big game, Parcells accepted his disciple’s invitation to watch New Orleans practice at Sun Life Stadium. Parcells told Payton that his coaching mistakes against Green Bay in the 1997 Super Bowl still haunted him. The Dolphins chief urged Payton to take every step necessary to gain even the slightest edge.
On Tuesday, five Saints showed up late to media day after missing the morning bus. Payton decided to exploit the situation, à la Parcells, and set the tone for the week. He shut the doors to the Saints’ locker room to address his team, and told his players and coaches that too many of them seemed satisfied with having captured the NFC Championship. Payton called out the tardy athletes by name, and claimed that their attitude risked setting up New Orleans for a blowout loss. Payton concluded his expletive-laced tongue-lashing by relaying a message from his mentor. “Here’s what Bill Parcells said: ‘When the band stops and the crowd stops cheering—when people stop paying to come—and it’s quiet, and all you’re left with is yourself, you’ve got to be able to answer the question: Did I do my best? Did I do everything possible to win this game?’ ”
By the end of Payton’s address, the locker room had turned silent and the mood somber. Payton’s contrived scolding helped the Saints maintain their focus for the rest of the week. Then, taking advantage of his access to one of the top motivators in NFL history, Payton asked Parcells to deliver New Orleans’s pregame speech. Accepting the role as a Dolphins executive posed a conflict of interest. Also, Parcells’s personal ties to the Manning family made him reluctant. Parcells explained the complications to Payton, so the New Orleans turned to former NBA head coach Avery Johnson.
Jim Caldwell’s Colts led, 10–6, when the Saints kicked off to open the second half, but Payton called an onside kick that his team recovered, and parlayed into a 13–10 lead. His chutzpah delivered a catalyst that led to New Orleans’s 31–17 triumph, and the first Super Bowl title in the team’s forty-three-year history. Giddy about the outcome, Sean Payton wasn’t able to fall asleep until about 4 a.m., with the Lombardi Trophy in his bed. Later that morning Bill Parcells phoned Payton just as the Super Bowl–winning coach was heading to a mandatory media Q&A. Parcells conveyed his pride and praised Payton’s bold decisions.
Bill Parcells felt disappointed that his goal of rebuilding an unprecedented fifth franchise had stalled. With two years left on his contract, the executive VP ratcheted up the pressure at Dolphins headquarters. Tony Sparano had dismissed defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni after his unit finished among the league’s worst. As a replacement, Sparano hired Mike Nolan, whom Parcells deemed a top defensive mind, confirmed by an endorsement from Al Davis. When Parcells oversaw the Jets in 2000, Nolan had worked as Al Groh’s defensive coordinator, so the Dolphins executive had some firsthand insight.
Sparano, taking a rare breather at Dolphins headquarters in March, described the atmosphere in the building. “I sit in this chair, and if Bill walks by my office, I know he’s there. I can sense him. I can almost smell him. It’s just one of those things. Even if I don’t see him, I know he’s around. It makes you work harder; it keeps you on your game.”
During Miami’s 2010 off-season, GM Jeff Ireland made several significant acquisitions to bolster the roster’s nucleus with young stars, relinquishing two second-round picks for Broncos wideout Brandon Marshall and signing linebacker Karlos Dansby as an Arizona Cardinals free agent. Despite keeping an eye on the team’s budget after the 2009 spending spree, Ross authorized a combined $46 million in guaranteed compensation to Marshall and Dansby.
Satisfied that the managing general partner was staying out of the
way, Parcells remained open to Ross’s idea about extending his contract. Ross, however, failed to act on his own intermittent mentions of a contract extension. The lack of follow-through frustrated his executive VP. In 2010 Parcells said, “Ross told me on about four different occasions, ‘Well, I want to sit down and talk to you about the future.’ He doesn’t ever do it. I’ve been waiting for him, and he hasn’t done it. I’m not pushing him, but he never seems to have the time.”
Was Ross cognizant of Parcells’s genuine interest in staying long-term?
Parcells replied, “We haven’t talked about it in any detail. He hasn’t asked me.”
The drama involving Jason Taylor and Bill Parcells took another twist on April 20: the Dolphins linebacker made a stunning departure to the Jets, a team whose fans he had disparaged over the years amid the AFC East rivalry. For publicly deeming them ignorant and ridiculing their “J-E-T-S!” chant, Taylor received more vitriol at the Meadowlands than any other opposing player. However, the Dolphins had decided against improving an offer that Taylor declined in late November, when he’d told them to wait until the off-season. The club’s stance had come after the linebacker rebounded with a terrific season: seven sacks, an interception, and three forced fumbles, including one he returned for a touchdown against the Jets. Taylor’s nine career touchdowns were by far the most in NFL history by a defensive lineman.
When Gary Wichard contacted Jeff Ireland in early April 2010 pursuing an improved offer, Parcells refused to authorize one. Instead, Tony Sparano canceled a scheduled meeting with Taylor. By contrast, the Jets had wooed Taylor. Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan gave the spurned linebacker a private helicopter ride to the new home arena of the Jets and Giants, which had opened on April 10. There Gang Green played Taylor’s career highlights for him on MetLife Stadium’s video screen.
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