"Parcells: A Football Life"
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Baby "Bill"

Baby "Bill"

Duane Charles Parcells at age two. Duane grew to dislike his birth name, deeming it unusual and perhaps feminine. In the eighth grade, he was constantly mistaken for someone named Bill, but he declined to correct anyone. Within a year, only Ida and Charles called their son by his real name. Courtesy of Bill Parcells

Note: For more images, click on each photo -- or one of the arrows up top.

 

The Hasbrouck Heights Peanuts in 1952

The Hasbrouck Heights Peanuts in 1952

(From left) Danny Astrella, thirteen; George Swede, thirteen; Don Parcells, nine; Duane Parcells; eleven. George’s eight-year-old brother, Jerry, kneels in front of the baseball gang. After a tryout, Duane made the team as a second baseman—his first organized competition. The peewee club had been created in 1950 because Little League hadn’t yet reached Hasbrouck Heights. Courtesy of George Swede

Bill Parcells In Bell Bottoms With His Family

Bill Parcells In Bell Bottoms With His Family

The Parcells family—Bill and Judy with daughters Suzy,
Jill, and Dallas—outside their new home in Lubbock, Texas, after Bill joined Texas Tech in 1975 as linebackers coach. During his college coaching career, Bill, who once described Lubbock as being “in the middle of nowhere,” would move the family every two years or so for a new job.
Courtesy of Judy Parcells 

Football Royalty

Football Royalty

Giants leader Bill Parcells whispers to Steelers legend Chuck Noll, the owner of four Lombardi Trophies, before the 1985 regular-season finale at Giants Stadium. Noll was among several top football minds whom the young Giants head coach would seek out for pointers. Harry Hamburg, New York Daily News Archive, Getty Images 

Short Shorts

Short Shorts

Three future Hall of Famers chat during Giants training camp in August 1986, decades before the popularity of baggy shorts. Lawrence Taylor stands between head coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick. Jerry Pinkus 

Archrivals In Black and White

Archrivals In Black and White

Archrivals Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells side by side during pregame activities at Giants Stadium on October 5, 1987. On Monday Night Football, Walsh’s 49ers would defeat Parcells’s Giants 41–21. Their high-profile rivalry produced some of the NFL’s most memorable games, occasionally leading to Super Bowl titles. By 2006, roughly three-fourths of NFL head coaches were linked to one man or the other. Michael Zagaris, Getty Images 

Ready For The Elements

Ready For The Elements

In snowy conditions with windchill temperatures of 21 degrees at Mile High Stadium, on December 10, 1989, Parcells guided Big Blue to a 14–7 victory over Denver. During a sit-down with Woody Hayes in early 1978, the Ohio State legend told the then rookie head coach of Air Force, “If you’re gonna play in the Atlantic, you gotta train in the Atlantic!” Several years later, when Parcells joined forces with Giants GM George Young, the pair targeted athletes capable of excelling in inclement weather. John Leyba, Denver Post, Getty Images 

Leading The Charge

Leading The Charge

Bill Parcells leads his cocksure, charged-up players, including center Kevin Mawae (#68) and special-teams ace Corwin Brown (#44), at the Meadowlands for their 1998 regular-season finale on December 27. Gang Green would trounce Pete Carroll’s Patriots, 31–10, concluding a historic year highlighted by the franchise’s first- ever division title. Only a couple seasons removed from ignominy, the Jets took most of their club-record twelve victories by at least a touchdown, strutting into the playoffs. Thomas E. Franklin, Bergen Record 

Legendary "Enemies" Enjoy Each Other's Company

Legendary "Enemies" Enjoy Each Other's Company

Two “enemies” embrace and share laughs at the Hall of Fame ceremonies on August 2, 2013, in Canton, Ohio. Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells sat at the same table during the Ray Nitschke Memorial Luncheon and spoke more to each other that day than they had done in decades as NFC East rivals: Parcells’s Giants and Gibbs’s Redskins underwent epic clashes that determined championships and legacies. Parcells explains, “You learn to respect your enemies but execute all traitors, and that’s how I felt about Joe. I always held him in high regard.” Ben Liebenberg, AP 

Giant Trophies

Giant Trophies

The only men to have captured Lombardi Trophies as Giants head coaches—Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin, each of whom won two Super Bowl titles—stand next to their glistening prizes on June 10, 2014, at team headquarters in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Parcells dislikes comparing his disciples but concedes that Coughlin is the most similar to him. The Giants wideouts coach from 1988 to 1990 describes Parcells as the person who taught him far more about football than anyone else: “The best.” Evan Pinkus, AP 

Baby "Bill"

Duane Charles Parcells at age two. Duane grew to dislike his birth name, deeming it unusual and perhaps feminine. In the eighth grade, he was constantly mistaken for someone named Bill, but he declined to correct anyone. Within a year, only Ida and Charles called their son by his real name. Courtesy of Bill Parcells

Note: For more images, click on each photo -- or one of the arrows up top.

 

The Hasbrouck Heights Peanuts in 1952

(From left) Danny Astrella, thirteen; George Swede, thirteen; Don Parcells, nine; Duane Parcells; eleven. George’s eight-year-old brother, Jerry, kneels in front of the baseball gang. After a tryout, Duane made the team as a second baseman—his first organized competition. The peewee club had been created in 1950 because Little League hadn’t yet reached Hasbrouck Heights. Courtesy of George Swede

Bill Parcells In Bell Bottoms With His Family

The Parcells family—Bill and Judy with daughters Suzy,
Jill, and Dallas—outside their new home in Lubbock, Texas, after Bill joined Texas Tech in 1975 as linebackers coach. During his college coaching career, Bill, who once described Lubbock as being “in the middle of nowhere,” would move the family every two years or so for a new job.
Courtesy of Judy Parcells 

Football Royalty

Giants leader Bill Parcells whispers to Steelers legend Chuck Noll, the owner of four Lombardi Trophies, before the 1985 regular-season finale at Giants Stadium. Noll was among several top football minds whom the young Giants head coach would seek out for pointers. Harry Hamburg, New York Daily News Archive, Getty Images 

Short Shorts

Three future Hall of Famers chat during Giants training camp in August 1986, decades before the popularity of baggy shorts. Lawrence Taylor stands between head coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick. Jerry Pinkus 

Archrivals In Black and White

Archrivals Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells side by side during pregame activities at Giants Stadium on October 5, 1987. On Monday Night Football, Walsh’s 49ers would defeat Parcells’s Giants 41–21. Their high-profile rivalry produced some of the NFL’s most memorable games, occasionally leading to Super Bowl titles. By 2006, roughly three-fourths of NFL head coaches were linked to one man or the other. Michael Zagaris, Getty Images 

Ready For The Elements

In snowy conditions with windchill temperatures of 21 degrees at Mile High Stadium, on December 10, 1989, Parcells guided Big Blue to a 14–7 victory over Denver. During a sit-down with Woody Hayes in early 1978, the Ohio State legend told the then rookie head coach of Air Force, “If you’re gonna play in the Atlantic, you gotta train in the Atlantic!” Several years later, when Parcells joined forces with Giants GM George Young, the pair targeted athletes capable of excelling in inclement weather. John Leyba, Denver Post, Getty Images 

Leading The Charge

Bill Parcells leads his cocksure, charged-up players, including center Kevin Mawae (#68) and special-teams ace Corwin Brown (#44), at the Meadowlands for their 1998 regular-season finale on December 27. Gang Green would trounce Pete Carroll’s Patriots, 31–10, concluding a historic year highlighted by the franchise’s first- ever division title. Only a couple seasons removed from ignominy, the Jets took most of their club-record twelve victories by at least a touchdown, strutting into the playoffs. Thomas E. Franklin, Bergen Record 

Legendary "Enemies" Enjoy Each Other's Company

Two “enemies” embrace and share laughs at the Hall of Fame ceremonies on August 2, 2013, in Canton, Ohio. Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells sat at the same table during the Ray Nitschke Memorial Luncheon and spoke more to each other that day than they had done in decades as NFC East rivals: Parcells’s Giants and Gibbs’s Redskins underwent epic clashes that determined championships and legacies. Parcells explains, “You learn to respect your enemies but execute all traitors, and that’s how I felt about Joe. I always held him in high regard.” Ben Liebenberg, AP 

Giant Trophies

The only men to have captured Lombardi Trophies as Giants head coaches—Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin, each of whom won two Super Bowl titles—stand next to their glistening prizes on June 10, 2014, at team headquarters in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Parcells dislikes comparing his disciples but concedes that Coughlin is the most similar to him. The Giants wideouts coach from 1988 to 1990 describes Parcells as the person who taught him far more about football than anyone else: “The best.” Evan Pinkus, AP 

Baby "Bill"
The Hasbrouck Heights Peanuts in 1952
Bill Parcells In Bell Bottoms With His Family
Football Royalty
Short Shorts
Archrivals In Black and White
Ready For The Elements
Leading The Charge
Legendary "Enemies" Enjoy Each Other's Company
Giant Trophies