Thursday, September 25, 1997Next: JETS (2-2)
Parcells' way works
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Having watched his team win its season opener 41-3, he rewarded them the next day by making them run 14 100-yard sprints.
He received permission to spend $3 million on improvements to training facilities and put that money to use by instituting a mandatory offseason conditioning program. Only one player reported to training camp overweight.
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Sunday, 4 p.m. Line: Cin by 4 |
Bill Parcells has brought his demanding style to the New York Jets, who had been one of the NFL's most hapless franchises. The standings reflect his immediate effect: After finishing 1-15 last year, the Jets take a 2-2 record into Sunday's game against the Bengals at Cinergy Field.
These Jets look zealous, dynamic and opportunistic, as they showed last Sunday when Corwin Brown's blocked field goal and Ray Mickens' 72-yard return enabled them to rally for a 23-22 victory over Oakland. Jets' jokes, once as plentiful around New York as taxicabs, have become extinct.
The Jets' reversal is comparable to what the Bengals experienced last Oct. 21 when Bruce Coslet succeeded Dave Shula as coach. New York had talent, despite its woeful record, and Parcells knew how to maximize it:
He whipped the Jets into peak physical condition. No longer would players suffer injuries while warming up before games, as quarterback Neil O'Donnell did last year.
Because the Jets' lack of room under the salary cap prevented Parcells from pursuing free agents, he gathered draft picks to create a base of talent for future seasons. "I needed a volume of players," he said, explaining why he traded the No. 1 overall choice in last April's draft and wound up with 11 selections instead of six.
He adapted his style to fit the Jets' personnel. Though Parcells has been known to favor ball-control offenses, New York has passed more than it has run (146-103), largely to use skilled receivers Wayne Chrebet, Jeff Graham and Keyshawn Johnson. This isn't unprecedented for Parcells, who worked successfully, albeit grumpily, with New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe.
He will gamble, as evidenced by the Jets' seven conversions in nine tries on fourth down. "Sometimes you have the tendency to become more aggressive, then all of a sudden better things start happening and you build momentum that way," he said.
The momentum started building last Feb. 6 when Parcells, 56, became coach and "chief football operations officer." That's a fancy way of saying he exercises complete control over the team, from personnel moves to interview schedules.
Parcells gets his way because he gets results. In 1983, he took over a New York Giants team that had one winning season in its past 10. Four years later, they won the Super Bowl.
In 1993, he inherited a New England squad that had finished 9-39 in three previous seasons. Another four years passed; another Super Bowl appearance.
Parcells knows better than to make lofty promises about Super Bowls for the Jets. Aware of their futility last year and their failure to post a winning season since 1988, he regards his current responsibilities a "consummate challenge."
But he fully expects the Jets to become competitors. At the current rate, that may happen sooner than anyone imagined.
"The first thing I ever told them is, 'I will not accept losing, and I will not accept players that accept losing,' " he said.
Losing had become a habit for the Jets under coach Rich Kotite, whose teams went 4-28 in 1995-96. Bengals QB Boomer Esiason, who endured that 1995 season, recognizes Parcells' value.
"For what had ailed that team for two years, he's the perfect medicine," Esiason said. "You need to have a strong, tough guy to get that thing cleaned up . . . Someone who's going to be dynamic, forceful and charismatic and is going to be basically a dictator. And it's truly a dictatorship there, not a democracy."
The Jets finished last in the AFC a year ago in interceptions, kickoff returns, punt returns, sacks, scoring and turnover differential. Of course, Parcells accepted a similar reclamation project in New England, and look what happened. After winning the AFC title last year, the Patriots have remained among the elite with a 4-0 mark.
"See what their record is? That's what he taught them," said Brown, whom Parcells signed after New England cut him in training camp. "See how they play? That's what he taught them."
"I'll forever be grateful to Bill for helping lay such a strong foundation for this team," said New England owner Robert Kraft, who had a messy contractual divorce from Parcells. "He put his all into it, and brought a tremendous sense of credibility and stability to the team."
Now the Jets are gaining those qualities.
Previous Jets stories
JETS TOP '96 WIN TOTAL Sept. 24, 1997 JETS 23, RAIDERS 22 Sept. 22, 1997
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