Bill Parcells was 3-12-1 as the Giants rookie head coach. He almost lost his dream job and always knew why.
“I was just trying to be a head coach instead of being Bill Parcells,” he said.
That’s why he has this advice for Joe Judge: “Be yourself”.
The judge hasn’t even flinched at all that has been thrown at him so far, but the ultimate test is underway. The judge has to be himself at a time when he is on the clock to identify the top 53 men heading into the home opener on September 14 and teach the Giants how to win again… without the benefit of a single game. pre-season. Following a virtual off-season.
Parcells, who turned 79 on Saturday, has never encountered those hurdles and seems grateful that he didn’t.
“I think it’s very difficult for a first year head coach,” Parcells told the Post, “and I also think it’s very difficult for the first year coordinators. There’s a lot going on in the preseason besides the players. The technical staff must organize themselves. Gaming communication: who is where? Who does what? Who is in charge of the substitution? Who looks at the waiting times. Who does that, who does that? They don’t even have the opportunity to train in real playing conditions. “
Jason Garrett is the Giants’ new offensive coordinator, but he’s been there, done that. Parcells had Ron Erhardt, Dan Henning and Ray Perkins as their trusted CO, and acknowledges what Garrett will mean to Judge: “I think that’s priceless.”
But nothing is more precious in these unprecedented and daunting circumstances than coaches who have continuity, and Parcells believes they will have an advantage.
“Absolutely,” he said. “These coaches experienced the exercise with their assistants. Their assistants know what to expect. It’s brand new for these other guys who just got their staff together. And even if you have veteran coaches, you never know exactly how the head coach will work. It is a difficult thing.
“First-time head coaches, first-time coordinators, first-time general managers if there are any, it’s harder than ever.”
Fortunately, the game has been made safer… and smoother in the eyes of old-school coaches.
“We had 24 practice before our first pre-season game,” Parcells said. “And 50 before our first regular season game. And these guys are going to have 14 padded workouts before your first regular season game. I had this in 10 days. “
Just because Judge implements some of the same proven training camp practices as Parcells and Bill Belichick doesn’t mean he won’t be his own man. His players agree, and that reflects positively on him as a leader.
Parcells likes that the judge removed the last names from the backs of the players’ training camp shirts.
“You want your coaches, first of all, on film to be able to identify the players by what they’re doing, not by how many,” he said. “You must know them by sight.”
When he started coaching the Cowboys, he took the star from rookie helmets. “You have to earn the star,” Parcells said.
Ahead of his first Patriots training camp, Parcells put players on high alert.
“I told them the offseason schedule was important to me and so we had a really good offseason schedule, and then I told them the conditioning test before training camp was something very important to me, and they should do their best to pass this test, ”he said. “And that it wasn’t a test that required a super effort to pass. But it took work. I used to run them on three 300-yard shuttles, round trip. And the linemen had a certain time, and the full backs and receivers and DBs had a certain time, and tight ends and linebackers …
“When we started at training camp, one of the starting goalies, he couldn’t finish a of the three shuttles.
“So now I know he doesn’t look like… t. If he doesn’t, neither do I.
“So I gave him waivers the next day.”
Parcells knew what he was getting into when he walked into Weeb Ewbank Hall to address the woebegone Jets after two years of the Rich Kotite Error.
“Be punctual, practice and play hard, pay attention to details. I don’t want bums on my team, I want people who are responsible, “that kind of thing,” Parcells said. “I didn’t just talk to the team, I spoke to everyone in the building. I had a meeting with them. Everybody. Each person. “You’ve had a bunch of coaches here over the past 20 years, you’ve seen them come and go, and you’re still here. I said, ‘Well, this is how it’s going to be with me. I will try to change that, and I need your cooperation. “
Parcells has always put pressure on his players – even veterans with equity with him were not spared.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, during this camp I have to see it. And I always told them, ‘I trust what I see,’ ”Parcells said.
He has seen a lot of them. Now he sees a tough and smart young Giants head coach forced to take on a gargantuan challenge. Be yourself, child, and good luck.
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