Gold Jacket Spotlight: Master Motivator Bill Parcells

This past Thursday, nearly 60 players and coaches representing 10 high school teams from Northeast Ohio came together at the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the second session of a “Build the Bridge” program held in Canton.

Build the Bridge, launched in 2020 in Cleveland, epitomizes the #HuddleUpAmerica initiative the Hall of Fame unveiled a few years ago that seeks to unify not only football players and teams from diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds but also all Americans working toward common goals.

For someone to emulate, future participants can look to Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, who this week steps into the Gold Jacket Spotlight.

“Now we've got all kinds in this place, OK?” Bill said in his 2013 Enshrinement speech, referring to the locker room. “We've got white, we've got Black, we've got Latin, we've got Asian, we've got Samoans, we've got Tongans, we've got Native Americans. Ladies and gentlemen, I played and coached with them all, and the only thing that made any difference is, ‘Are you willing to help?’

“And if you are, come on in. If you're not, get the heck out of here.”

Welcoming anyone who was willing to make the sacrifices – and there were many under his demanding style – necessary to become a champion, Bill coached in the National Football League for 19 seasons. His teams finished first or second in their division 11 times.

Bill won two AP Coach of the Year awards and finished his career with an overall record of 172-130-1 in the regular season and 11-8 in the playoffs.

All the more impressive, he inherited Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys teams with a combined record of 12-46 in their previous seasons. By Year 2, he had the Giants, Patriots and Jets in the playoffs; his turnaround in Dallas came in the first season.

He remains the only NFL coach to take four franchises to the playoffs. Along the way, his Giants teams won Super Bowl XXI (over the Denver Broncos) and Super Bowl XXV (over the Buffalo Bills). He won an AFC title with the Patriots, losing to Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXI, and led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game two seasons after taking over a 1-15 team.

Bill also worked in Miami for two seasons (2008-09) as executive vice president of football operations. In his first year, the Dolphins reached the playoffs – one year after an embarrassing 1-15 season.

He was known around the league as a master motivator. Someone who knew exactly which button to push. Maybe a pat on the back. Maybe a wicked comment to deliver a kick in the pants.

Nothing was given; everything was earned. In Dallas, Bill said players needed to earn the iconic stars on their helmets. “Earning the Star” continues as an annual tradition for rookies in Cowboys training camps.

At the Enshrinees’ Roundtable the day after his Enshrinement, Bill told the audience: “You’re never going to remember how much money you made playing this game – you might have some idea – you’re going to remember what you did and what you achieved. So this game has always been about one thing: Achievement.”

Bill achieved a lot, by melding diverse individuals into teams in his image: competitive, tough and dedicated.