Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 22, 1993 TAG: 9301220077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
PARCELLS BACK ON SIDELINE
The word "championship" flowed repeatedly from Bill Parcells' lips as he returned to coaching Thursday, even if he must rebuild a New England Patriots team that couldn't be further from one.Parcells, winner of two Super Bowls in his last five years as head coach of the New York Giants, takes charge of a team that tied for the NFL's worst record and has won four playoff games in its 33-year history.
"History," he declared, "means nothing in football."
With Massachusetts Gov. William Weld looking on, Parcells was introduced in a chandeliered conference room of a fancy downtown hotel. Past Patriots coaches were introduced in the less gaudy surroundings of club offices in suburban Foxboro.
Patriots owner Jim Orthwein called the signing of Parcells "the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the history of the New England Patriots."
Parcells had accepted, then rejected the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' coaching job after the 1991 season. He had few doubts about New England.
At a meeting late last week, he said, Orthwein asked him what it would take to make the Patriots competitive.
"I told him I wasn't interested in a competitive team, but rather if he was interested in bringing a championship team to New England, then I was his man," Parcells said at a news conference. "That's the only goal a guy like me can have.
"I emphasize the word championship because that's what I'm trying to do. When [Orthwein] said, `That's what I want to do, too,' I got real interested."
New England was 2-14 in 1992, its second season under coach Dick MacPherson, and 9-39 the past three years. MacPherson was fired Jan. 8, and chief executive officer Sam Jankovich resigned the next day. Parcells is the Patriots' fourth coach in five years.
He resigned as Giants coach four months after winning the 1991 Super Bowl and spent the past two seasons with NBC-TV as an announcer. He said Thursday he missed coaching.
"It's like going to the schoolyard when you're a kid," he said. "You have to grow up some time, but fortunately I haven't had to."
Details of Parcells' multiyear contract were not released, but he said, "This is my last coaching job, without question."
Patriots officials also interviewed former coaches Buddy Ryan of the Philadelphia Eagles and Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes.
Orthwein turned to Parcells, 51, the Patriots' linebackers coach in 1980 before he spent the next two years as the Giants' defensive coordinator. He became New York's head coach in 1983.
Parcells said his health allowed him to return to coaching. Starting in December 1991, he had three procedures to remove coronary artery blockages. He underwent coronary bypass surgery last June 3.
"I certainly considered my state of health, but I started feeling good last July," he said. "It's not an easy job the way I intend to do it."
He brushed aside questions of how much control he has of the football operation. Patrick Forte, the team's vice president of administration, was appointed executive vice president of football operations.
"This is not about control. This is a team," Parcells said. "We're going to be a team from top to bottom. . . . Anyone that has their own agenda . . . won't be around too long."
Orthwein, however, indicated Parcells would have a great deal of control. "We wouldn't have gone to the expense or the commitment if we weren't going to listen to Bill Parcells," the owner said.
Parcells said he was flattered about New York fans' support for him to get the vacant Giants job.
"Time goes on, and it's a different time," he said. "It's a different place. I'm a New England Patriot. It's where I started my professional coaching career, and it's where I'm going to end it."
Orthwein has characterized himself as an interim owner who will pursue an expansion franchise in St. Louis. But he said he expected to own the Patriots in 1993 and repeated his statement that he has no intention of moving them to St. Louis. He renewed his pitch to Weld for a new stadium in Boston.
"It is my belief that we are turning the corner here and that this day will be looked back on as significant progress for the New England Patriots," Orthwein said.
Parcells had an 85-52-1 record and five playoff seasons as New York's head coach.
The Patriots have been to the Super Bowl once, as a wild-card team after the 1985 season. They lost to Chicago 46-10. Parcells is determined to take them there again.
The Boston Globe and The Washinton Post contributed information for this story.