Parcells Won’t Coach Bucs

Bill Parcells rejected the Tampa Bay Buccaneers--again.

The two-time Super Bowl champion coach said Friday night that he will not return to the sideline with Tampa Bay or any other team.

“Bill Parcells, early this evening, told us that he would not be returning to coaching,” Buccaneer executive vice president Joel Glazer said. “In our continued pursuit of a championship, we remain confident that our new coach will utilize the solid foundation that we have built to achieve our goals.”

Parcells, meanwhile, told CNNSI.com and Sporting News Radio that he wasn’t able to make the commitment necessary to do the job.

“I hope that convinces everybody that I’m not coming back. Because I’m not. This is it. I’m staying retired,” Parcells told CNNSI.com from his home in New Jersey. “The demands of the job and what it would take for me to succeed were just too much.”

It’s the second time in 10 years that Parcells has spurned the Bucs, who also pursued him after the 1991 season only to be turned down at the last minute.

The first indication that the plan to hire Parcells was falling apart came when the Jets announced Friday evening that Mike Tannenbaum, thought to be Parcells’ hand-picked choice to be Tampa Bay’s new general manager, was remaining in New York.

Earlier Friday, the Buccaneers confirmed receiving a letter from the NFL warning Parcells and the team that they could be punished for trying to hire coaches and officials under contract to other teams.

The tampering warning came in a letter from Jeff Pash, the NFL’s counsel, to Tampa Bay General Manager Rich McKay after reports that Parcells was assembling a staff that includes people still under contract to other NFL teams.

The Parcells situation also has had an impact on the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot.

Parcells, a finalist last season, is again among the 15 finalists this year. But because a coach isn’t eligible while he is still coaching, he would be removed from the ballot were he to come out of retirement.

*

Former Buccaneer coach Tony Dungy was in Charlotte, N.C., to interview for the Carolina Panthers’ vacant head coaching job.

Dungy, fired as Tampa Bay’s coach earlier this week, had dinner with team officials Friday night and was expected to remain in Charlotte Saturday.

Dungy, also a candidate for the Indianapolis job, said Panther founder and owner Jerry Richardson makes the Carolina job an intriguing one for him.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve heard is the ownership and how it’s first class and they’ve got great facilities and good people,” Dungy said. “And I think that is what you want to be around.”

*

San Diego Charger General Manager John Butler said his interview with Marty Schottenheimer went well, but offered little else as the coaching search extended to nearly three weeks.

“We had a chance to visit and converse and really that is all I can say,” Butler said after returning from Las Vegas, where he met with Schottenheimer on Thursday.

Butler wouldn’t say if he made an offer.

“I’m not going to say anything other than we had a conversation,” Butler said.

The general manager plans to interview New York Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell on Monday in Mobile, Ala., site of the Senior Bowl. By then, Cottrell will have interviewed with Indianapolis and Carolina.

*

Minnesota Viking tight end Byron Chamberlain and New England Patriot receiver Troy Brown were selected as replacements for next month’s Pro Bowl. Chamberlain will take the place of Carolina’s Wesley Walls, who has an injured knee. Brown will replace Denver’s Rod Smith. It was not immediately known why Smith pulled out of the Feb. 9 game in Honolulu.... Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay’s all-pro defensive tackle, underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a slightly torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The team said Sapp should ready for contact work by early summer.... Arizona Cardinal left guard Pete Kendall, who missed the season’s final five games with a foot injury, will undergo surgery Tuesday. The team said Kendall is expected to be ready for training camp in July.