Saints Nation: Praying for Parcells

It’s been no secret I’m a huge fan of the idea that Bill Parcells come to the Saints for one season only to replace a suspended Sean Payton. To quickly recap my thoughts about why this is a perfect fit:

1. Sean Payton and Bill Parcells are close friends, share the same coaching philosophy, and Payton views Parcells as a mentor.

2. Parcells, at 70, is still completely present minded, but he doesn’t have the ability to commit to something long term because of his age. This opportunity is loaded with potential and with a definitive end date in close proximity, there are no longevity concerns. If he was ever going to coach again, this would be the only scenario.

3. This represents one last chance for Parcells to cement his legacy with a very legitimate shot at the playoffs and beyond.

4. Parcells wouldn’t need to do all that much. He’s regarded as one of the best motivators in the game’s history and that’s all he’d need to do. We’re not talking about revamping the scheme, playbook or anything like that. The Saints are a well oiled machine and almost everything is already in place to be VERY successful. All Parcells needs to do is be a figure head, tweak little things here and there, and try to maximize the players’ mental approach to games.

5. He would give the Saints a headstrong personality they need with Gregg Williams, Sean Payton and Joe Vitt all gone. I believe Steve Spagnuolo COULD handle the head coach role, but I think that’s a disaster fit because he doesn’t know the system and he’s brand new to a regime that’s been in place for 6 years. On top of that Spags is revamping a defense’s culture, character, scheme and players. That’s just too big of an undertaking to expand his responsibilities. Ditto for Pete Carmichael Jr., by the way, too. Carmichael is soft spoken and I’m not sure he can be the motivator Payton/Parcells are. Again, his responsibility is huge as the offensive coordinator that will handle all play calling and game planning, so I’d prefer for his role to be limited to focusing on that.

I want to be clear, I don’t envision Parcells as changing the team’s philosophy or makeup in any way. He shouldn’t be changing the play calling or direction of the team in any way. My vision for him coming to the Saints only works if he’s a laissez-faire manager of operations and lead team motivator. Not dissimilar to Bobby Bowden in the twilight years of his career at Florida State (I use that example instead of Joe Paterno for obvious reasons). The idea of that may not be attractive to Parcells, who knows?

Lastly, the Saints can afford him. Why? Because Sean Payton’s $7.5 million is coming off the books. That’s money Benson won’t have to pay in 2012. You offer Parcells $6 mil of that, and the club saves $1.5 million for the year… AND you offer Parcells such a chunk of change at 70 he will maybe never see again. I bet he’d be really tempted to go for it.

It’s a great fit and, quite frankly, in a time of crisis the Saints need the experience and stabilizing force that Bill Parcells would bring. The organization of the team and question marks that surround the staff would be changed overnight. Parcells would quickly make it clear who’s in control and help the team focus despite the numerous distractions. I know he can do that. I’m not convinced Spagnolo can. The bottom line is this: the Saints increase their odds of winning a Super Bowl by bringing Bill Parcells on board given the situation they’ve put themselves in. In a league where nothing is ever a given, it’s all about increasing the odds in your favor.