Bill Parcells
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Bill Parcells, in 19 seasons as a head coach in the National Football League, experienced only five losing seasons. Four times he took over struggling teams and turned them into winners. Parcells-led teams finished in either first or second place in their division 11 times.
In 1983 Parcells assumed the head coaching reins of a New York Giants team that had only one winning season in its previous 10 years. After a 3-12-1 season in his first year, the Giants made the postseason as a wild-card team the next two years. Each time the eventual Super Bowl champions eliminated the vastly improved Giants from the playoffs. In 1986, the Giants finished 14-2 and capped the year with a victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI.
After a two-year absence, the Giants returned to the playoffs in 1989 as NFC Eastern Division champions. In 1990, the team captured its second Lombardi Trophy with a dramatic 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV.
Parcells, citing health concerns, left the sidelines for a two-year stint in television. He returned to coaching in 1993 when he took over the struggling New England Patriots, who were fresh off of a 2-14 record and were on a four-year skid of losing seasons. Within two years, Parcells coached the team to a 10-6 mark and its first playoff game in eight years. Two seasons later, the Patriots posted an 11-5 record and won the AFC championship to earn a berth in Super Bowl XXXI.
Parcells’ third head coaching job came in 1997 with the New York Jets, who had gone eight seasons without a winning record and had a 1-15 mark in 1996. With Parcells, the Jets improved to 9-7 in his first season at the helm. The following year, he guided New York to a 12-4 record, and the Jets advanced to the AFC Championship Game. It was the Jets' first division championship since 1969 and the best two-year turnaround of an 1-15 team in the history of the NFL.
His final stint as a head coach in the NFL came with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-06. He led the team to playoff appearances twice.
Parcells compiled an overall record of 172-130-1 in the regular season and 11-8 in the playoffs. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1986 and 1994.
