Parcells speaks...

[dirno2000]

Big Bill airs it out

By Jennifer Floyd Engel

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Cowboys coach Bill Parcells sat down with a couple of reporters Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine to discuss everything from how long he planned to keep coaching to whether he thought the Cowboys had a chance to make a Super Bowl run. What follows are portions of his long and wide-ranging interview:

Did you think about quitting after last season? "I'm not quitting. No. I really didn't. I was a little down and out. You know, it's a funny thing. When the bar is high -- and the bar is high for me -- you can't [quit]. ... The same stuff that is going on in Dallas right now with me happened in New England, too, my second year. We started off bad and the same, exact mentality in the press .... 'Oh, the game is passing him by.' This and this and this. It's the same thing. It's like the dynamics are exactly the same, so I've even been through that, but if you think back to some of the places I've [gone]. It didn't move smoothly at New England before we got to the Super Bowl. It didn't go smoothly [with] the Jets. So, anyway, it's the same thing. Whatever."

Could you quit, though, if 2005 turns out like 2004? "I want to improve the team; I'll just say that. That's important to me personally to do that."

Will you commit to finishing out your contract?"I'm committed to trying to improve the team; let me just go there. I pretty much go year to year anyway. I'm not avoiding the question. I don't know what's going to happen in two years. I don't know how I'll be feeling, what I'll be doing. Right now, I'm ready to go. I haven't taken a day off since the season was over."

Do you think there is a legitimate chance to turn this [team] around and make a run in the playoffs while you are still here? "I think we have a lot to do, and we have to have a little good fortune, too. But I don't think it's impossible. Now, there might be a few more changes. I'm a little more adamant about how things are going to be here."

Player or coaching changes? "I've already done most of the coaching side, so I think we are going to be improved on that end, I hope. I know I am going to approach it a little different with players. I am going to assume a little less and put a little more pressure on some guys that I didn't think did a good job and see where it goes from there. I told them all this. They all know it's coming."

What was your thought process on signing quarterback Drew Bledsoe? "It was the whole organization and we just thought that was going to be our best option. People act like you can dial it up. I was just thinking about how many years Pittsburgh had to wait before they got [Ben] Roethlisberger; just think of all of the guys they went through. You know what I mean? We think [Bledsoe] can still throw the ball well. I think he'll surprise people with the way he can run if he wants to. I wouldn't call him a scrambler, but he's able to run. He's a lot faster than people think he is."

What does signing Bledsoe mean for Drew Henson?

"It doesn't mean anything. It says this guy is a developing player. I don't see how anyone could say or think that a guy of his experience level now, you could just say, 'OK, we're going to go with this.' I just don't think you can do that. Now, if he comes along and improves, [Bledsoe] says it best. He knows. He said it, 'If he [Parcells] has a better option, he's going to do it.' It's the truth. So I hope [Henson] comes on."

Do you think everybody is pushing for Henson to start because of the way the NFL has changed? "I don't think that is why they are pushing Henson. They are pushing Henson because they are curious. I think one of the things you have to decide as a coach is you have to try to put your players in position where they can be successful. You think I'm not rooting for the kid. I'm rooting for him. Why wouldn't I be? It's in my best interest that he plays well, so I am rooting for him and I'm rooting for [Tony] Romo, too. I really am. You got to use your best judgment on when to [play them] because one of the worst things you can do is put someone in there who is not quite ready. And if you don't have to do it and you can nurture him a little bit more, it gets him so that when he does go in, he is ready. I do plan on getting them a lot of work in the summer."

Do you balance the present with the future? "Of course I do. I want it to be in better shape than when I was here. I want to leave it in good shape, but that doesn't revolve around just one position like everybody else is making it to be about."

Does owner Jerry Jones have to think more about balancing the present and the future? "Let me tell you something: Jerry and I talk about everything we do. It's not me doing it. It's we doing it. It's always been that way since we've been here."

Do you think about sacrificing the future to win now because you might not be around? "I don't think like that. I swear I don't. I try to do what I can do. I was taught coming into football that you never sacrifice anything for that year. And that's what I learned with [Giants general manager] George Young. We were trying to win, but we were trying to build, too, understand? But that deal where it's, 'We're looking for years down the road.' Well, they won't tolerate that now. You can't approach it that way now. They want you to win every year, and [win] big if you can. So I always look at it where I'm trying to win. What about the players that are playing? They deserve a chance to win. You're trying to give them the best chance to win that year, but you're not necessarily foregoing the future by doing that. You're really enhancing the future to make it more attractive. Free agents would be more inclined. Dallas has a lot of things going for it if we could get it going."

Jones said you are going to be aggressive in free agency this year. Is that the plan? "If we can be. We have a plan. Just because you are trying to do something... You know there are 31 other teams trying to do something, too."

In your opinion, what is your biggest hole going into free agency and the draft? "It depends what happens in free agency. We can't just say, 'OK, we're going to do this or we're going to do that.' I would say I would like to get a pressure player on defense. I would like to get that, whether it be a lineman or a big linebacker that can do something. But we still have problems, as you know, at right corner. We'll be looking at another runner. We certainly could use offensive line help, too, but I'm a little more encouraged with [Ben] Noll and a couple of guys at the end of the year, and I got [Stephen] Peterman coming back."

Are you going to switch to a 3-4 defense? "We haven't decided."

Is the decision determined by what players you get in free agency? "Not in free agency. We're set to do whatever we want to do, but we're either going to go one way or another based on what we can do personnel-wise."

Would you consider trading La'Roi Glover? "I'm not speaking for Jerry, but they're all for sale. Somebody's got to do the right thing. Now, am I shopping La'Roi Glover? No. But they're all for sale. You see that around the league. If someone gives you the right price, most of the time they'll all be for sale."

Does Dexter Coakley have a place on this team? "Yes, there is a place. ... I met with Dexter. He knows what I have in mind. If he wants to do it, that's fine. If he doesn't want to do it, well, we'll see that when the time comes. He has my respect as a player. I talked to him about what's going on. And I've done it in plenty of time to give him time to think about it."