Bill Parcells is one of the greatest coaches to ever bless a football field, and the man has worked for more teams, college and pro’s than I can count. Bill is most known for his tenure with the New York Football Giants where he was able to capture his only two Super Bowl titles. The marriage between Bill and Football is a rocky one which involved a lot of “I’m done’s” but every time that happened within a year or two Bill would come back to the game he loved.
Bill Parcells Net Worth: $25 Million
Early years (1941-1963)
Bill, born Duane Charles Parcells, was born on 22 August 1941, in Englewood, New Jersey USA to his two parents Ida and Charles. Bill always had a fixation with sports and loved everything about them, growing up he developed into quite the Football, Basketball, and Baseball player at River Dell Regional High School in Oradell, New Jersey. What he lacked in athletic ability he made up for with his brain, being able to put himself in the right spot at the right time.
After Highschool Parcells was offered a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, with disapproval coming from his father he decided to attend Colgate University in New York where he played football and studied Physical Education. His stay at Colgate University was a brief one (this will be a common trend) he transferred out of Colgate to the University of Wichita in Kansas where he played linebacker for the Shockers. After enjoying success on the field and off the field at Wichita, Bill not only graduated with his degree in Phys. Ed but was drafted in the 7th round by the Detroit Lions. Bill wasn’t there long either and was soon cut by the team in training camp. Bill, not done with football looked for different ways to stay involved with the game, then came the best decision he’s ever made.
College Coaching Years (1964-2007)
Right After being cut by the Lions Parcells instantly began looking into coaching, in 1964 he was appointed first assistant coach at Hastings College in Nebraska. After one year at Hastings Bill returned to his alma mater where he was an assistant head coach at Witchita St. Bill wasn’t there long either and continued to bounce around from school to school, he coached at Army, Florida State, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech in the following years. Bill was an assistant head coach for 14 years before finally landing his first head coaching job at Air Force in 1978. As you could have guessed Bill jumped ship after one short year, he was offered to be the New York Giants Defensive Coordinator, but Instead Bill took a hiatus from football altogether and joined a real estate company.
The NFL Comes Calling (1980-2007)
After a very brief career in real estate, Bill got the coaching bug again and ended up joining the New England Patriots as a Linebackers Coach in 1980. His stint as the LB’s coach was shorter than his real estate gig because in 1981 he accepted a job to become assistant head coach of the New York Giants. By the time 1983 rolled around Bill was promoted to head coach of the New York Giants. Bill enjoyed much success with the Giants, winning two Super Bowls (1987, 1991) and became one of the best minds in the game. Following the 1991 Super Bowl victory, Bill decided it was time to hang up the headset due to health concerns.
Despite not coaching Bill couldn’t stay away from football he began working as a football analyst for NBC Sports and even hosted the sports show “Around the NFL.” Like most other jobs Parcells held during his career the media job wouldn’t last long, in 1993 Bill accepted a job to become head coach of the New England Patriots. Parcells led the Pats to the 1996 Super Bowl, they came up short to the Green Bay Packers, but it was still a heck of a run. Following the loss, Parcells once again announced his retirement from coaching.
Once again Bill couldn’t stay away, taking the Head Coaching and General Manager of the New York Jets in 1996 where he took a team that was 1-13 to 9-7 and just missing a playoff berth. The next year Parcels had the Jets in the AFC Championship game where they ended up losing to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos. Following that game, Parcells took a year off of coaching but remained the teams General Manager. Bill Parcells retired for the 3rd time in 2000, and everyone thought this was it for the all-time great.
But of course, Bill wasn’t done yet, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones convinced the coaching legend to come out of retirement in 2000 and coach a Dallas team that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Parcells came in, and the Cowboys instantly became contenders and made the playoffs twice under Bill who retired in 2007. This was Bill’s final coaching job in a long and storied career where he amassed an overall record of 172-130-1 in the regular season and 11-8 in the playoffs to cement his legacy as one of the greatest coaches of all time. He also became the only coach to ever lead four different franchises to the playoffs, a record I don’t see being broken anytime soon.
Life After Coaching (2008-present)
Despite retiring from coaching Parcells still wanted to remain in football, that’s when he accepted the job to become the Executive Vice-President of Football Operations of the Miami Dolphins. He was there for four years, and when his contract ran up, he walked away. He has not worked for any organizations since but did find a home with ESPN as an NFL analyst, but as the years have gone on you see less and less of the coach.
Parcells was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2013; he gave a very moving 20-minute speech. I highly recommend you give this speech a listen.
Bill Parcells did publish a memoir in 2013 titled “Parcells: A Football Life,” written by former Sports Illustrated writer Nunyo Demasio. This was a great read and very much attributed to Parcells current wealth.
