Parcells Is Talking Title as He Takes Over Patriots

The word “championship” flowed repeatedly from Bill Parcells’ lips as he returned to coaching Thursday, even if he must rebuild a New England Patriot team that couldn’t be further from it.

Parcells, winner of two Super Bowls in his last five years as coach of the New York Giants, takes charge of a team that tied for the NFL’s worst record and has won only four playoff games in its 33-year history.

“History means nothing in football,” he said.

Meanwhile, Parcells’ former team, the Giants, was reportedly close to hiring former Denver Bronco coach Dan Reeves. Sources told the Associated Press on Thursday that Reeves had the job if he could reach agreement with General Manager George Young on the final details of a multiyear contract.

“They’re still in the process of talking,” said one source, who is close to Reeves. “As far as I know, they aren’t talking to anyone else. I assume if they keep talking they will get it done.”

Parcells, 51, was introduced in a plush downtown Boston hotel with Massachusetts Gov. William Weld looking on. Past Patriot coaches were named in the less gaudy surroundings of club offices in suburban Foxboro.

Patriot owner Jim Orthwein called the signing of Parcells “the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the history of the New England Patriots.”

At a meeting late last week, he said, Orthwein asked him what it would take to make the Patriots competitive.

“I told him I wasn’t interested in a competitive team, but rather if he was interested in bringing a championship team to New England, then I was his man,” Parcells said at a news conference. “That’s the only goal a guy like me can have.

“I emphasize the word championship because that’s what I’m trying to do,” he added. “When (Orthwein) said, ‘That’s what I want to do, too,’ I got real interested.”

New England was 2-14 in 1992, its second season under Coach Dick MacPherson, and 9-39 the past three years. MacPherson was fired Jan. 8, and chief executive officer Sam Jankovich resigned the next day. Parcells is the Patriots’ fourth coach in five years.

He resigned as coach of the Giants four months after winning the 1991 Super Bowl and spent the past two seasons as an NBC football announcer. He said Thursday he missed coaching.

“It’s like going to the schoolyard when you’re a kid,” he said. “You have to grow up some time, but fortunately I haven’t had to.”

Said Terry O’Neil, NBC executive producer: “Everyone at NBC Sports has mixed emotions about Bill’s decision. We were extremely pleased with his development as a football analyst and are confident that he could have been one of the best in the business.”

Details of Parcells’ multiyear contract were not released, but he said, “this is my last coaching job, without question.”

Parcells accepted, then rejected the Tampa Bay coaching position after the 1991 season. He refused to comment on the Tampa Bay situation but said he feels comfortable in New England and his health allowed him to return to coaching. Starting in December 1991, he had three procedures to remove coronary artery blockages. He underwent coronary bypass surgery last June 3.

“I certainly considered my state of health, but I started feeling good last July,” he said. “It’s not an easy job the way I intend to do it.”

He brushed aside questions of how much control he has of the football operation. Patrick Forte, the team’s vice president of administration, was named executive vice president of football operations.

“This is not about control,” Parcells said. “This is a team. We’re going to be a team from top to bottom. Anyone that has their own agenda . . . won’t be around too long.”

Orthwein, however, indicated that Parcells will have a great deal of control. “We wouldn’t have gone to the expense or the commitment if we weren’t going to listen to Bill Parcells,” the owner said.

Parcells said he has some ideas about assistants but noted that many of those he had with the Giants are head coaches elsewhere. One, Tom Coughlin of Boston College, turned down the Giants’ coaching job this month.

“Tom Coughlin told me he needed a neighbor he could talk to,” Parcells joked when asked why he took the Patriot job.

Parcells had an 85-52-1 record and five playoff seasons as New York’s head coach.

The Patriots have been to the Super Bowl once. They made it as a wild-card team after the 1985 season but lost to Chicago, 46-10.

Parcells is determined to take them there again.

“I’m not interested in winning a few games here and there,” he said. “I’ve done that. I look for the ultimate challenges in this profession. I look forward to returning to the profession I love.

“You are what you are, and Bill Parcells is a football coach.”

The Giants’ Young, who was snubbed by his first two choices, said Thursday that he was still having discussions with Reeves, who led the Broncos to three Super Bowls in 12 years before being fired in December.

Reeves was in Palm Springs on Thursday for a golf tournament and not available for comment.

Young refused to comment on the reports that the Giants have offered Reeves, 49, their coaching job.

Young maintained Thursday night that the team has not scheduled a news conference today to talk about the coaching position. A source close to Reeves said if he does reach agreement with the Giants, no official announcement will be made until next week.

John Mara, the Giants’ executive vice president and general counsel, said no timetable is set for holding a press conference.

“Everything in life is subject to change,” he said.