No job offer yet by Saints
Parcells: “I feel an obligation” toward Sean Payton,
PALM BEACH, Fla. — If Bill Parcells comes out of retirement to coach the New Orleans Saints while protégé Sean Payton serves an NFL suspension, it would reset the clock on his eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But Parcells, 70, insists a decision to return, if the Saints job is offered, won’t hinge on a desire to be enshrined.
“My dad taught me, ‘You can’t worry about things that you have no control over,’ ” Parcells told USA TODAY. “So I can’t base my life on that probability or lack of probability. But it is important.”
In February, Parcells was bypassed for the third time as a finalist. He was also passed over in 2001 and 2002 before returning to coach the Dallas Cowboys.
Since 2008, the Hall has required that coaches, like players, be retired for five years to become eligible. New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin says Parcells is passionate about getting into the Hall.
“Of course it matters,” Parcells said. “Any of us that have been in football, it means something. However, that’s not something that’s guaranteed. I can’t live my life worrying about something that might never happen.” Does Parcells still itch to coach? “That’s been my life,” he said. “I love the game. If you like competition, Sunday at 1 o’clock, it’s there for you. Being realistic is also involved. I would not want to do something that I’m not sure I’d give my all to doing.”
Parcells says there are several unanswered questions.
“I don’t know what the end result will be and . . . what in fact (the Saints) want to do,” he said. “None of this has been discussed or decided. We’re a long way off.”
Regardless, Parcells will get to Canton in 2012. Enshrinee Curtis Martin has designated Parcells as his presenter. That might be convenient. The Saints open the preseason in the Hall of Fame game.