http://espn.go.com/new-york/columns...lls-legacy-new-york-jets-includes-question-if It still hurts that the 98 team lost in the AFCCG. No doubt about it, we would have KILLED the Dirty Bird........ FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My impression was [and still is] that Parcells regarded Leon Hess very highly. Once Hess passed away, Parcells took off too.
Parcells didn't like the Jets. He was an old time Giants coach and a Patriots coach and had plenty of reasons to dislike the Jets just from those connections. He took the Jets job because a dying old man asked him too and backed that up with enough money that saying no would have been both cruel and bad business. The events from halftime of the AFCCG to half time of the 1st game of 1999 were enough to shatter anybody's resolve. I think Parcells checked out on the Jets when he realized that Vinny wasn't the ticket any more and had no clue if Chad was really good or not. I remember the press conference after Vinny's injury as one of the few times I saw Parcells really adrift. He'd known all through camp that he didn't have good options available if Vinny went down. Then the worst happened and he was out of answers at the beginning of the season. The job he did in damage control that season after the trauma had settled was pretty amazing but his heart to coach the Jets was gone and that's why he tried to put Belichik up front and then settled for Groh when that went sour.
This franchise has been a lot better since Parcells arrived on the scene. I would say he was instrumental in bringing the Jets back from the depths of irrelevancy. Parcells still advises Rex here and there so his input in a sense has not gone away. Parcells may not of been here for a while but he made a mark on this franchise and it continues today - granted we still aren't a traditional franchise but it's hella better than what we had before Parcells.
There is still a trickle of Parcells influence in the franchise, but every year it becomes less and less. Tannys firing is another one who bit the dust How many Parcells guys remain?
Not much. I consider Rex a Parcells guy to an extent. Bradway is still here but I can't imagine many being left.
He turned this dogshit franchise around and left us with fuckin Belichick. A pretty good job if you ask me. I have a lot of respect for Parcells. He was a bad GM but one of the best HCs ever.
I don't consider Rex a Parcells guy...if he descended from any kind of tree it would be his dad (of course) but also Billick. No real strong links to Parcells. What's interesting is that Buddy of course served under Weeb Ewbank. So the Ewbank coaching tree is still alive and runs through Rex and the Jets
I appreciate what parcells did bringing us out of the dark ages but it is still disappointing to look back as he bailed before finishing the job and left us w/ a messy cap though starting w/ him we've been one of the better teams in the AFC on a pretty consistent basis. no, not up there wil Pitt, NE, Ind and I guess Bal(now that they have 2 SBs) but next in line.
no doubt junc as BP stint here made for good on the field team but left alot to be desired off the field with his leaving the sidelines, the belichek cluster, and his attempt at GM. really not sure what to make of it when he says "there was new ownership" and all. IMO, woody isn't stupid and if parcells would have committed to him i am sure the love would have been mutual.
I'll always think Parcells bailed on Foley too quickly. I understand that Vinny came in a played his best season of football in 1998, but Foley was Parcells' guy and could have given us stability at the position for longer than Vinny managed. If I remember correctly, what pissed Parcells off was Foley not being honest about a rib injury. He got hurt in a game against Baltimore, gave it the old 'I can still play coach, don't take me out' and lost the game. It turned out he was more badly hurt than he'd let on and Parcells was furious with him. Foley was traded for a sixth to Seattle in the offseason. Parcells seemed like the kind of coach who didn't forgive mistakes. In this case, if he'd kept Foley around we wouldn't have been in terrible shape after Vinny went down at the start of the 1999 season.
He is a lying prick. I've read things from many reporters about things that happened while he was with the Phins and they don't match up with the words that come out of his mouth. He tries to paint himself in the best light. I don't watch ESPN but whenever I see him on there it makes my blood pressure rise how he doesn't acknowledge his failures but blames it on others.
Keep in mind Foley never started and won a game and was out of the league a couple of years later. He wasn't going to be our future.
I think it's one of his best coaching jobs ever, but at the same time had he yanked Mirer for Lucas earlier maybe we could have made the playoffs that year. I would have loved to see that team make the playoffs, we were on a roll at the end of the year. The point someone else made about Foley is interesting. If they hadn't traded him he likely would have been backing up Vinny and probably would have been more successful than Mirer was in those early season games. It was a pretty awful run of luck for Parcells. Losing the heartbreaker in 98, losing Vinny in 99, and knowing Leon was going to pass away. As a Jets fan, I felt horrible about all of that, but I felt even worse for Leon Hess.
