MEDIA COVERAGE
Note: We've also dedicate a separate page for full-fledged reviews of Parcells.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: On October 29, 2014, D. Orlando Ledbetter wrote about Chapter 32, which details Bill's comedic switcheroo in late 2007 despite Falcons owner Arthur Blank's presence at Coach's home while trying to finalize a deal. But the blog's headline -- "Parcells wasn't comfortable with catering to Atlanta's African-American fan base" -- received the most attention from readers, generating roughly 100 comments. In his weekly blog, Ledbetter described the book as "a football historian's delight," predicting that it would become a New York Times bestseller.
bleacherreport.com: On February 17, 2015, ProFootballTalk, the popular NFL website, tweeted a newsy revelation from the book: After dismissing Joe Paterno in late 2011 following the child-molestation scandal, Penn State contacted Bill Parcells about coaching the Nittany Lions. The tweet generated several headlines, including one from the Bleacher Report's Penn State site.
Boston Globe: On October 26, 2014: Ben Volin wrote that "anyone who appreciates NFL history...is going to want to run out to your local bookstore store to buy Parcells." The newspaper's NFL columnist listed several parts of the book that intrigued him, naturally tailoring his choices towards New England's fan base.
Boston Globe: On November 9, 2014, columnist Dan Shaughnessy mentioned a juicy tidbit from the book that crystallized the animosity between Bill Parcells and Robert Kraft when the two were partners in New England: The owner's family and inner circle -- among themselves -- used to occasionally refer to Coach as "Fatty."
Boston Globe: Roughly one year later, Shaughnessy again quoted from Parcells in a November 15, 2015 column titled, "Tom Coughlin, the one coach who doesn't fear Belichick."
csnbayarea.com: On December 3, 2014, Matt Maiocco, who covers the 49ers for Comcast Sportsnet, wrote that "Jim Harbaugh was not the 49ers' first choice as head coach after the 2010 season, according to information in a new book." The Parcells revelation spurred more than 90 reader comments on the website. We'll give you just one guess about the franchise's original choice. And more than one year later -- January 7, 2016 -- CSN revisited the revelation amid San Francisco's search for a new head coach.
Dallas Morning News: On November 6, 2014, the well-regarded paper published its choices of Bill's book quotes about his Cowboys tenure. The headline paraphrases, "Bill Parcells: If I played Tony Romo as a rookie, he would've been out of football in less than 2 years."
Deadspin: The irreverent sports website plugged the book on March 27, 2015 in an article that touched on my turbulent stint covering the Redskins for the Washington Post, noting that owner Daniel Snyder had deemed me Public Enemy # 1.
espn.com (New Orleans Saints): On February 3, 2015, Saints reporter, Mike Triplett, detailed tidbits from the book tailored to his audience, highlighting how Bill almost coached the Saints in 2012. Triplett's follow-up article on the book delved into Bill relationships with two disciples: Sean Payton and Jeff Ireland.
espn.com (New York Jets): In his Sunday notes column, on November 2, 2014, Jets reporter Rich Cimini dished several Parcells nuggets for Gang Green followers. Cimini, who had covered Bill's Jets for the New York Daily News, also broke down the All-Parcells team by the number of players on each franchise Bill had coached.
foxsports.com: On October 16, 2014, weighing in on Chapter 22, the website noted that "Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick have a long, complicated history."
Inc.: Using the headline, "7 Signs You've Found Your Calling," the well-regarded business magazine brilliantly broke down Parcells for its readers. In the December 5, 2014 article, Ilan Mochari wrote that "a new biography of legendary football coach Bill Parcells offers several instructive examples of how you'll know if your career is your calling." He noted that the topics the book covers include leadership, management and team-building. Ironically, the detailed article from a monthly business magazine has been the best one anywhere about the book. Readers appreciated it enough to share it online more than 1,600 times!
Inc.: Three weeks later, on Christmas of 2014, Ilan Mochari followed up with another sharp article about the book: "8 Steps to Reverse a Negative Culture," which was again well-received by the business magazine's readers, and shared more than 700 times.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: On November 19, 2014, columnist Burle Petit focused on Bill's stint with the Texas Tech Raiders from 1975 to 1977.
Maynard Institute for Journalism Education: On December 15, 2014, Richard Prince, who covers minority journalists for the long-established organization, noted the racial dynamic of my collaboration with Bill Parcells.
Miami Herald: On October 24, 2014, Barry Jackson led his notes column with an item telling readers that Bill Parcells "has plenty to say about his two-and-a-half-year tenure as the Dolphins executive vice president of football operations."
National Football Post: On July 20, 2015, NFPost.com noted the striking parallels between the Bobby Knight - Mike Krzyzweski relationship and the Belichick-Parcells bond. The football website also used Parcells to point out the ties among the four men, specifically their connections to the U.S. military academies.
Newark Star-Ledger: The October 16, 2014 headline claimed, "Bill Parcells rips Bill Belichick in new book for the way he weaseled out of Jets deal."
New York Daily News kicked off Parcells coverage on October 15, 2014 with an article about SI's excerpt. The tabloid where I had covered high-school sports in 1995 before being promoted to the St. John's basketball beat, noted that I am a former Daily News reporter.
New York Post wrote about the Belichick-Parcells Split on October 15, 2014, focusing on Charlie Weis. The headline read: "The betrayal that stung Parcells even more than Belichick's."
New York Times: Bill Parcells dedicated his authorized biography to his mentor -- and former high school coach -- Mickey Corcoran. And in the fall of 2014, when the publisher granted Coach two advance copies of the book, Parcells presented one to his mentor. Corcoran died of brain cancer on December 2, 2015; and in a Times obituary, legendary columnist Dave Anderson used a Parcells quote from the book to capture the relationship: "He was everything that a 14-year-old guy needed. He was a coach, a teacher, a disciplinarian, a butt kicker."
Newsday joined the onslaught of media reaction on October 15, 2014 to the material on the Belichick-Parcells Split.
nfl.com: Prompted by SI's excerpt, on October 16, the league's official website included a video clip of two NFL.com reporters discussing the relationship between Belichick and Parcells.
NPR: Bill admits to being uncomfortable doing interviews on non-sports platforms. You would never see him on, say, the Late Show with David Letterman. He even declined a segment with legendary interviewer Charlie Rose!!! So NPR's segment on January 29, 2015, three days before the Super Bowl, was noteworthy. David Greene, co-host of Morning Edition, had sat down with Coach in Jupiter, Florida for a two-part segment on NPR's acclaimed show. The follow-up aired the next morning, focusing on off-the-field behavior among NFL players, and whether ex-Baltimore tailback Ray Rice deserves a second chance after having committed domestic violence.
Palm Beach Post: On October 24, 2014, the paper's headline claimed that in the book, "Bill Parcells takes a few shots at Miami Dolphins' owner."
Providence Journal: On October 18, 2014, the newspaper published an article about Chapter 22.
San Francisco Chronicle: On December 2, 2014, Eric Branch, who covers the 49ers, published a scoop from the book, generating almost 100 comments from readers: The franchise had tried to lure Bill, at age 69, as its head coach in 2011.
San Jose Mercury News: The newspaper mentions the book in a January 5, 2015 article that focuses on San Francisco's search for a new coach. The 49ers beat reporter, Cam Inman, notes that Parcells's coaching tree instead of Bill Walsh's will factor in GM Trent Baalke's decision.
sbnation.com: The Detroit Lions branch of the sprawling sports website provided quotes from head coach Jim Caldwell raving about the book during a December 2, 2014 press conference. Caldwell recommended that all coaches read Parcells, and described it as "eye-opening."
si.com: A few days after the magazine excerpt, on October 20, 2014, Peter King of SI and NBC weighed in. Using the "Ten Things I Think I Think" section of his wildly popular column, Monday Morning Quarterback, King astutely zeroed in on the new information from the well-chronicled divorce: "I found the Charlie Weis information the most interesting stuff."
si.com: In the December 8, 2014 edition of Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King again plugged the book while providing insightful analysis: This time, the star reporter provided readers with historical context -- and a possible solution -- for the irreconcilable differences involving 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and the club's front office.
Sports Illustrated: In a February 25, 2015 article about the value that the NFL increasingly places on versatile players, SI's Greg Bishop deemed the biography to be an "excellent book about the Hall of Fame coach." Bishop noted how it details Parcells's persnickety requirements for the physical characteristics of his players.
Sun Sentinel: Dolphins beat reporter Omar Kelly assessed the Fins's section of the book, generating a headline on October 25, 2014 that owner Stephen Ross "contributed to [Parcells's] exit." The Sentinel obtained a statement from the real-estate mogul: “I haven’t read the book, but I appreciate all of Bill’s work during his time with the team.”
Times-Picayune: The headline for a December 4, 2014 story by columnist Larry Holder said, "Bill Parcells biography offers [a] glimpse into his flirtation with Saints during Sean Payton's exile."
USA Today: An article on November 7, 2014 revealed that Temple head coach Matt Rhule's game plan for an upset victory over East Carolina stemmed from having recently read Parcells. Chapter 13 details the ball-control offense that the Giants use to upset Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV. And Rhule, who had grown up as a fan of Coach's Giants, employed the approach to gain Temple's first-ever home victory against a ranked opponent.
WEEI Radio (in Boston): On November 18, 2014, Bill Parcells spent almost a half-hour discussing the book on "Dale & Holley," an afternoon program on Boston's most popular sports radio brand. Michael Holley praised the biography for its nuance and balance: "It's Bill Parcells's new book, so you focus on Bill Parcells. It's his story, but it takes some skill to put this together the right way. And I think Nunyo did a really good job here because he has Parcells's take on the marriage, but then he talks to the children, too. And it's not always flattering. In a lot of these biographies, people want to be heroic. They don't want you to put in anything that can draw criticism. But it's in [Parcells]. The missteps are in there. That's a complete biography."
Yahoo Sports: On October 29, 2014, Jay Busbee noted that "the book describes in wacky sitcom-like detail how [Falcons owner Arthur] Blank doggedly pursued Parcells." But almost all of Yahoo's nearly 100 reader comments dealt with the secondary aspect of the column: Coach's reservations about Blank's apparent stance of making Atlanta's mostly black fan base a factor in football decisions.