Dan Shaughnessy talked to Bill Parcells about two of his former pupils for a story in today's Boston Globe. The former Giants coach compares Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin, and it sounds like he takes a great deal of pride in their success.
Parcells and Belichick had a well-documented falling out, but Coughlin has always been loyal to him. When Coughlin was fired in Jacksonville, he had a standing invitation to join Parcells' staff in Dallas. At some point in 2003, Parcells and Belichick patched things up and the Cowboys and Patriots began helping each other out. I'm sure the Patriots' vice president of player personnel, Scott Pioli, may have helped in the healing process. Pioli doubles as Parcells' son-in-law.
In 1990, Belichick was the Giants' defensive coordinator and Coughlin coached the wide receivers. That staff included Ron Erhardt, Charlie Weis, Al Groh and Romeo Crennel.
"They both came up paying their dues," Parcells said. "Bill was holding cards for [Baltimore Colts coach] Ted Marchibroda, driving him around when he was young, and Tom was lining the fields at Rochester Institute of Technology. He started the program up there, so both of them came up kind of the way I came up. I was at Hastings College doing the wash after practice. I think all of us that came up that way, usually you have a greater appreciation for what the game is about."
"What Bill has done there in New England is remarkable. There's no other word for it. And I was just happy to see Tom win because he'd been taking a bunch of crap here in New York. They're just not going to be able to say anything now."
The image of Parcells washing jocks and socks is priceless. He said the Giants coaches shared two offices and they all had cubicles. You can just imagine how difficult it was for Belichick to sneak in personal calls surrounded by all those coaches.
We're in the calm before the storm stage of Super Bowl buildup, but look for the Belichick-Coughlin story line to be very popular in Arizona.
