Parcells' magic words: intimidation, discipline

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/25/a1c_parcells_0726.html

Parcells' magic words: intimidation, discipline

By EDGAR THOMPSON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 25, 2008

DAVIE — When Bill Parcells took over as coach of the New York Jets in 1997, Marty Lyons was eight years removed from the field. He hadn't played a snap since he retired after 11 seasons with the Jets, many of them as a member of the famed New York Sack Exchange.

Lyons, who hosted Parcells' weekly coach's show on TV, was 40 at the time. But whenever he chatted with the new coach, Lyons was so jacked up that he wanted to drop into a four-point stance at his old position on the defensive line.

"Every time I sat down with this guy, he gave me the feeling that I had one or two plays left in this body," recalled Lyons, a Jets radio broadcaster. "I always thought, 'Boy, if he can motivate somebody who's been removed from the game for so long, just think what he can do with a guy who still has those athletic tools.''"

When he wasn't daydreaming about a comeback, Lyons watched Parcells work his motivational magic on the Jets players.

Parcells inherited a 1-15 team and led it to a 9-7 finish.

"When we got there it was a total mess," said Mike

Sweatman, who coached the Jets' special teams under Parcells. "The Jets were depleted of talent, depleted of morale, perhaps lacked a clear vision of where they needed to go and how they needed to get there."

Turning around teams was nothing new for Parcells, who already had succeeded with reclamation projects in New York (coaching the Giants to the Super Bowl championship) and New England (coaching the Patriots to an AFC title). He later rebuilt Dallas into a playoff team before a brief retirement.

Today, he'll watch the Dolphins take the field to begin training camp after their worst season, 1-15. And he'll bring a familiar approach.

Since he arrived in South Florida as the team's executive vice president of football operations, Parcells has been lighting his players' competitive fire, blowing up the roster and reshaping the franchise the only way he knows how.

Lyons said it begins with instilling discipline and motivating players.

"Some players can't create their own vision of what they accomplish," Lyons said. "Bill can help lead them in that direction."

No word whether broadcaster Jim Mandich, a former Dolphins tight end, has been running pass routes in his off hours. But the Dolphins players were inspired immediately when Parcells showed up at a late-season practice soon after he was hired in December.

"You know when the big man comes out here," veteran linebacker Joey Porter said. "He isn't even a coach, but last year when he came out to practice guys were flying around. Guys were like, 'Where'd that come from?' We'd been cheating ourselves for 14 weeks."

That's about 13 weeks longer than Parcells keeps players who aren't giving 100 percent. Teams that go 1-15 usually have a lot of those players.

That's why Parcells doesn't use a scalpel to trim the roster. More like a hatchet.

The '97 Jets had 27 new players on the 53-man opening-day roster. The '08 Dolphins enter training camp today with 45 new players out of 80.

Whoever makes it to the Sept. 7 season opener against the Jets will be expected to contribute - or else.

At minimum, the new Dolphins under coach Tony Sparano can expect to have improved special teams, better back-up players and more intense competition during practice.

Parcells "builds throughout the entire roster, up and down," said Sweatman, who retired from NFL coaching in 2006 after 23 seasons. "He tries to utilize the different qualities and different traits of each player and mesh them into a team."

Initially, it begins with small, seemingly insignificant details. For example, Lyons said Parcells made each Jets player place his helmet to his right during stretching.

"You don't have people doing their own thing," Lyons said. "It sounds really simple. But if you have discipline in the little things, the big things fall into place."

Big things such as turnovers, penalties and overall efficiency suddenly weren't major issues for the Jets, who had been coached by Rich Kotite.

The '97 team reduced turnovers from 46 to 22 and cut down penalties from 110 to 83. Parcells' first Jets team lost only one game by more than 10 points - a 31-20 loss to Dan Marino's Dolphins.

A season later, the Jets reached the AFC title game (losing to Denver).

Fans might need to temper expectations with Parcells' latest rebuilding project.

The '97 Jets had a veteran quarterback who had played in a Super Bowl, 31-year-old Neil O'Donnell. And their staff included five coaches who have run college or NFL teams or both: Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Charlie Weis and Al Groh.

As a head coach, Sparano is unproven beyond the University of New Haven. But he coached under Parcells for four seasons in Dallas and shares his vision.

Most football people who spend time with Parcells end up believing in him.

Even when he's joking.

Back with the Jets, when Parcells told Lyons that he could use a veteran like him for a few plays a week - asking him, "How much do you think you have left in the tank?" - it turns out that the joke was on Lyons. He didn't care.

"He would leave the room and the camera guys would laugh," Lyons said. "I'd say, 'What?' They'd say, 'You know he's messing with you.'

"I'd say, 'Yeah, I know.' But for that short two or three minutes it made you feel good."