Bill Belichick has already passed his old boss Bill Parcells in Super Bowl titles. With a win next Sunday, Tom Coughlin could tie the Big Tuna with two championships.
Parcells has been watching lately with admiration.
“Different guys, but the same coach, starting with the fact that they both paid their dues,” Parcells told Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News.
In Parcells’ mind, Coughlin is a “coach’s coach.” But the two men share the four things Parcells believes you need to do to be a great NFL coach.
“They know how to acquire players, they know how to develop the players they have, they know how to come up with a good design for those players and they both get them to play hard,” Parcells said.
We could quibble that Coughlin’s speciality is not in acquiring players, but we understand the point. Coughlin and Belichick aren’t just good with game plans; they are teachers.
Parcells may now be overshadowed by some of his former assistants, but there’s no denying he was good at spotting coaching talent.
No matter who wins, this will be the sixth Super Bowl title earned by a former Parcells assistant. (Belichick has three titles, Coughlin has one, and Sean Payton has one.)