New Parcells Biography Uncans "Big Tuna"
By Jerry Milani
(Featured Columnist) on December 12, 2011
In his more than three decades coaching in the pros (and for much of the preceding 15 years or so in the college ranks), Bill Parcells pretty much had his way. So what would a full biography be like if it were done without his cooperation?
As it turns out, surprisingly thorough, and quite complimentary.
In his new book, Parcells: A Biography, author Carlo DeVito—whose roster of biographies includes the likes of D. Wayne Lukas, Wellington Mara, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto—looks past the dominant personality of the football coach known (mostly) affectionately as the "Big Tuna," and explores some areas of his life heretofore unpublished.
DeVito recently spoke with Bleacher Report about Parcells (Triumph Books, 384 pps.).
B/R: How cooperative was Parcells about the biography?
CD: He was not cooperative at all (laughs)! That's both good and bad. He didn't cooperate, but I was able to speak to many people from throughout his life, from Mickey Corcoran (Parcells' high school coach), all the way to Giants and Patriots. I did a lot of interviews with his college players. A lot of people forget how long he spent in the college ranks. They gave me a treasure trove of information.
BR: Parcells is a complex guy. What is the biggest thing that fans don't know that they'll learn about him?
CD: For me, it's about his family. He kept his private life during his public years very private. This is, from a number of different resources, the most complete picture of his life that anyone has every seen. It starts off in Hackensack (N.J.), talks about his father, who was an All-American at Georgetown where he held school and NCAA records for many years. It really gets into the dynamic between Parcells and his two brothers, between father and sons, all of whom played Division I football.
B/R: How did this dynamic work?
CD: Coach Corcoran told me that Bill was the best athlete of all of them. He led the state in scoring his senior year, was drafted by Detroit and offered twice by the Philadelphia Phillies as a pitcher, and still considered one of the best pitchers in his era. It's a very driven family. The "least" successful brother is Doug, and he has one of the largest recreational parks in New Jersey named for him. Don, the middle brother, was the president of First Fidelity Bank, went to West Point, played in the Army-Navy game against Roger Staubach three times. His father was a very brilliant man, successful, single minded, business focused, so you can see how strong an influence this was on Parcells.
B/R: So he's a typical "Jersey Guy," then?
CD: I always thought that "Jersey Guy" thing was hokey, but when you start to put the family life together with his personal background, no matter how far any of the brothers traveled, they never left Bergen County, where they drew their personality from, as home.
B/R: What is it about him that makes him such a good motivator?
CD: One thing I was fascinated by, talking to people and hearing their stories, a lot of times people thought he was just a big gasbag of hot air, but in reality, he was a tremendous motivator. He used any trick he could, and in many cases I don't think they were really tricks. Some were very heartfelt. There were times when he would call in a player's family and ask what he could do to motivate a guy, individually. He helped men with drug problems—once he found out someone was using drugs, he tried to work with him, he said, "Here's the deal, I'll call you mother. You need to deal with this now or it will ruin your life." They didn't want that.
B/R: But of course there were some kicks in the butt, too...
CD: Of course. He'd go up to [linebacker] Harry Carson, for example, and say, "[lineman Jim] Burt have been having a terrible practice, you've got to get on him." He'd say that right in front of Burt. Carson was definitely one of his favorites, but you had to be tough to be a Parcells favorite, because he would pound on you the most. Guys like Taylor, Burt, [Patriots QB Drew] Bledsoe, [Giants QB Phil] Simms, [Dolphins linebacker Bryan] Cox, if he was mad he'd take it out on them, knowing that he had their back and they could take it for the team. It was a dual edged sword to be a favorite.
B/R: That sounds like some other coaches in his lineage...
CD: For sure. Mickey Corcoran did the same. Corcoran had been a player for Vince Lombardi. So there's a direct linkage to Lombardi, and many of the methods are similar.
B/R: Is Parcells the best coach of his generation?
CD: That's a tough call. He achieved things that no one else has: He took three different teams to Conference Championship games, and a team from each conference to the Super Bowl. These events certainly put him in a category where few have gone. But what gets lost in this is what he did as an innovator on the defensive side. He came up with different schemes to use this new weapon—Lawrence Taylor—in a way nobody had before. The NFL is a league where imitation is everything, and they saw what Parcells was doing with Taylor, and teams copied these defensive schemes. Best? I'm not sure. But he's certainly one of the most influential of his era. He'd be successful in any year.
READ MORE AT:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/980129-new-parcells-biography-uncans-big-tuna
No comments:
Post a Comment