Customer Reviews

The Final Season: My Last Year as Head Coach in the NFL

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Whether you love Bill Parcells or hate him, you'll never forget him. This memoir of the 1999 season as head coach of the New York Jets is a pure Parcells press conference with him at his best. No matter whether he wins or loses, he knows how to put his game face on to look good in public. And that's what he did here. But to do that he had to (as usual) rely on play-action offense to draw attention away from what the coach and general manager were doing. As a result, I graded the book down two stars for lack of candor.

Now I am as sympathetic to the problems that he had in this last season as the next fan. When you lose nine starters including a top receiver and one of the game's best quarterbacks early in the season, you aren't going to do all that well in the NFL. Certainly, obtaining a record of 8-8 under those circumstances is nothing short of a miracle. If I were grading the season's record instead of the book, I would give him a five star review.

But there were some curious moments along the way that you may remember. When Vinnie Testaverde went down for the season in the first game against the Patriots with a torn Achilles tendon, Tom Tupa came in and moved the team very well. Then, inexplicably to many, Parcells chose to go with Rick Mirer as quarterback until late in the season when he began to use third stringer, Ray Lucas. Lucas was terrific, and helped the team achieve that improved record. Parcells primarily justifies picking and sticking with Mirer too long in this book as good football thinking. The loyalty is nice, but I find it hard to believe that he is expressing his real views here. If Lucas had come in sooner, the Jets would have made the playoffs.

The second problem with candor is that as the season moved on, he has less and less to say in the book. That's when the season just gets interesting. How does he coach the team to all those wins? You won't find out too much from the book in this regard. He does describe a few of his favorite head games of using the press to motivate the team, but there had to be more to the success than that. Of course, if he had gone with Ray Lucas sooner, the team probably would not have been 1-6 in the first place.

The third problem with the book is that Parcells tells you 10 stories of how players misexecuted a play for every one that he tells about how Parcells made a mistake. Why would a general manager and coach focus on building a team around such poor players? Hmmm.

The book's best parts are when he is in a good mood. During training camp he shares his standard speech, which is quite interesting for explaining his philosophies. He also tells some funny stories about players who didn't follow his rules, like the high draft choice who was found jogging wearing only in his sneakers one night. Other players are described as being caught for using steroids (even though they don't use them) because they are too dumb to be careful about which food supplements they eat.

The opening of the book is classic Parcells. "When I agreed to do this book, it was supposed to be the story of a . . . coach . . . as he goes through a winning season. The season didn't turn out that way. Our chance for a Super Bowl vanished in the first week when the team was decimated by injury." "To do the book after that was painful . . . ." "I'm not good at losing." This is from the introduction, yet he has much more to say in the book when he loses than when he wins. Figure that one out. My tentative explanation is that he quit on the book project part way through, and just went through the motions. He wouldn't accept that from a player. Why did he accept it from himself?

Parcells comes across very well when he shows his loyalty. He has only wonderful things to say about Leon Hess, the owner who died during the season. He is mostly complimentary about Lawrence Taylor. He avoids slamming Bob Kraft, the Patriots owner, whom he clearly detests. In fact, one of the better stories is about the defection of Bill Belachick from the Jets after Parcells retires as coach. Parcells decides to call Bob Kraft to see what can be worked out. When Kraft comes on the line, Parcells tells him that it's Darth Vader. That breaks the ice, and Belachick is able to come to the Patriots as general manager and coach. As of this writing, it's 0-2 for the Patriots under Belachick and the Jets under Al Groh provided one of those defeats. Darth Vader may get the last laugh on this deal.

When I read a book like this, I always wonder if Parcells knows how much he is hiding . . . or if he is even hiding from himself. You and I will never know. I don't think he'll let us get that close to his real thoughts.

After you read the book, I suggest that you ask yourself where you have overly rosy ways of describing your own performance as a person and in your working life. Those misconceptions can cause you to underperform. Then once you've spotted those areas, think about what would make you feel terrific about being more honest and candid about what is actually taking place. You'll feel a hundred pounds lighter before you're done.

I have allways been a Bill Parcells fan, and reading this book gave me great insight into his football life. From cover to cover Parcells give a Tuna-eye view of a year in the life of a successful head coach. He pulls no punches, when in comes to player (Eric Green, LT, Ray Lucas), the Refs, and various members of the NFL (Bill Belichick). I found it very easy to read (3 days, if you are busy)and quite entertaining. For anyone who is a diehard Tuna fan, this book covers no new ground, yet you should read it anyway, for he interesting spin he gives.

I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. Bill Parcells and his legacy here in New England and how he left the team were front page news here. His personality is larger than life. His press conferences were must-see TV.

That said, this book was disappointing. It started out well, the first portion of this book is riveting, and gives you real insight into his thoughts, and how he puts a team together. Where it goes downhill is after the Jets very first game of the '99 season where they lose multiple starters for the season, including the starting QB. Going into the season the Jets were considered by many people a favorite for the SuperBowl. If it were to follow the team through a season like that, it would've been a great read throughout. Instead, after those injuries, Parcells basically mails it in for the rest of the book, in my opinion. What could've been a great book instead becomes a mediocre effort.

For those of you who fantasized about what it would be like coaching an NFL team, Bill Parcells aided by Will McDonough offer the opportunity to find out what it is like.

Parcells takes readers through his entire final season with the New York Jets in 1999, when he ultimately concluded that this would be his final coaching responsibility. Jerry Jones has since hastened Parcells out of retirement at a hefty salary to jumpstart the formerly mighty Dallas Cowboys as he had earlier altered the fortunes of the New York Giants, New England Patriots and Jets respectively.

You cannot help coming away with an admiration for Parcells due to his rock-ribbed honesty. Here is a man who will criticize his players if he believes they are giving less than 100% or playing less than intelligent football. He blames himself for losing a game in the closing stages by "getting cute" and calling for a pass which was intercepted and ultimately cost his team the game when it would have been wiser retrospectively to keep the ball on the ground. When assistant coach Dan Henning tells him that his insistence on keeping Rick Mirer in the lineup as starting quarterback in the face of less than awesome performances stemmed from a stubbornness to face the facts since Parcells made the trade in his general manager's capacity, the coach, rather than blowing up over having his ego assaulted in the manner that a smaller man would, ends up agreeing with Henning. Accepting genuinely felt constructive criticism in a positive manner is the hallmark of a mature and honest man.

In addition to telling us plenty about strategy, how games were won and lost, and providing his opinions on players he reveres, such as his own sterling running back Curtis Martin and respected opposing quarterback Dan Marino of the Dolphins, Parcells tells about the deeply rooted pressures in NFL coaching. He reveals about his bypass operation and expresses dismay over his inability to sleep and nervous eating anxieties when the season is in full swing, leading to weight gain. He also weighs in on his view of the poor performance of certain NFL officials, especially in key situations, a problem which has magnified since this book appeared. Parcells expresses his concern as well over the rise of fan hooliganism, fearing that perhaps America may follow the example ultimately of the European soccer rioters.

If you love pro football, this is a can't miss read. The coach is an intelligent man of candor with plenty of interesting things to say.

I found this to be a pretty good book with some interesting comments by Parcells, but I had the feeling throughout that the book was the result of a "mail it in" effort. In other words, I don't think Parcells (or McDonough?)was willing to put in the work required to produce a really good book. It was short, not particularly well organized and certainly not comprehensive. Maybe Bill lost any true enthusiasm he might have had for writing about coaching as he lost his enthusiasm about continuing to coach. In any event, I enjoyed a number of the candid observations he did include, but I felt cheated by what I perceived to be a lack of commitment to this book project.

I found this book to be a pretty interesting look at the 1999 Jets season. Of course I am a Jets fan (season ticket holder). I thought Parcells was fairly open and criticized folks who deserved it. I also thought he provided good insights into the job of coaching an NFL team. My main complaint is that I thought the book could have been a little more detailed and longer.

I have been a long time New York Giant fan which of course makes me a long time Bill Parcells fan. Even though it has been many years since Parcells has left the Giants I have still followed his career closely. I even found myself routing for the crosstown rivals when he became the Jets head coach. Parcells does a good job conveying the ups and downs of his last season as an NFL coach and he adds enough insight to his years with the Giants and Patriots to make this book intersting to fans of both of these teams. The Final Season just wasn't interesting enough to be a great book. Don't get me wrong it was a good read just not a great one. Jet fans will probably love this book and Giant Fans will like it. However, the average football fan will not find enough here to hold their interest. Wait for the paperback.

This book takes you through Parcells' "Final Season" with the Jets (not as a coach, since he went to the Cowboys afterwards). I honestly thought it was great; he kept journal entries during a season when everybody thought the Jets would be on the rise, when in reality they had some huge injuries that absolutely crushed the team and took them to a mediocre record.

Reading Parcells recount the season and the frustrations is fun, even reading it in 2011. His assistant coaching staff contains a bunch of big names, including Bill Belichick, Charlie Weis, Todd Haley, Romeo Crennel, and Eric Mangini, and he talks a bit about all of them, especially Belichick, since this was his last season in New York before bouncing out (and breaking his contract) to coach the New England Patriots. To hear Parcells tell that story is really interesting, since he holds them over a barrel and gets draft picks galore, while the exact same thing happened a few years before when the Jets got Parcells from the Patriots.

He doesn't hold back when assessing the players. There are a bunch of guys he says sucks, talks about "dumb mistakes" with banned substances, and... well... the guy is ruthless. The no-nonsense descriptions were highlights of the book.

Anyway, fun read, all told through the probably biased viewpoint of Parcells. Recommended.

I thought the book lived up to its purpose of showing the life of the NFL coach. We see Parcells full of optimism at the start of the season then gradually decline in mood as the year progresses through events both on and off the field.

I might have liked to have seen more of what Parcells actually did in the year. What time he started work, what he actually did in the day and what time he finished an average day.

A good read.

Hey, Everyone this is a great book! Just to let ya know im really not 13 I am 17. I really recommend this book to everyone interested in sports. Will McDonough is a great writer!

-Stiggs