In 3 seasons, Pete manged to "clean things up" so well, that the Pats went from 10-6 to 5-11.
Minor quibble: Pete finished 8-8. BB had the 5-11 season after gutting the team.
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.In 3 seasons, Pete manged to "clean things up" so well, that the Pats went from 10-6 to 5-11.
Soft, players coach after a hard-nosed, disciplined coach. Doesn't tend to work. I like Pete Carroll a great deal - if I had a son who could play college football, I would want him to play for a Carroll more than any other coach. As a Patriots fan, though, NO THANKS.
In my opinion, though Parcells was a jerk in the way he went about it, he was right to leave. Although Poodle Pete was kind of silly for the NFL, his biggest problem was the guy that drovr Parcells away, Bobby Grier.
He was a total incompetent as GM, and also undermined the coach, talking to the players behind his back. Pete had no authority (because Grier was Kraft's guy) and the worst bunch of draft picks I've ever seen, courtesy of Bobby G.
Grier was VP of Player Personnel from '97-'99; here's the first four rounds of those drafts:
'99: C Damien Woody, LB Andy Katzenmoyer, RB Kevin Faulk
'98: RB Robert Edwards, S Tebucky Jones, DE Greg Spires
'97: DT Brandon Mitchell
'96: WR Terry Glenn, S Lawyer Milloy, LB Tedy Bruschi, DL Chris Sullivan
Grier was VP of Player Personnel from '97-'99; here's the first four rounds of those drafts:
'99: C Damien Woody, LB Andy Katzenmoyer, RB Kevin Faulk, S Tony George, CB J'Juan Cherry
Pats traded away their 1st, 3rd & 6th round draft pick to move up three slots to get Woody.
'98: RB Robert Edwards, S Tebucky Jonrs, WR Tony Simmons, TE Rob Rutledge, FB Chris Floyd, DE Greg Spires, DE Leonta Rheams
Edwards and Floyd were compensation for Curtis Martin; Simmons was compensation for Parcells.
'97: CB Chris Canty, DT Brandon Mitchell, RB Sedrick Shaw, S Chris Carter, G Damon Denson, T Ed Ellis
Shaw and Ellis were compensation for Parcells.
By comparison, here's the first four rounds of the previous three drafts:
'96: WR Terry Glenn, S Lawyer Milloy, LB Tedy Bruschi, OL Heath Irwin, DL Chris Sullivan, FB Kantroy Barber
Pats also traded away a draft pick for T Pat Harlow
'95: CB Ty Law, LB Ted Johnson, RB Curtis Martin, CB Jimmy Hitchcoock; C Dave Wohlabaugh
'94: LB Willie McGinest, WR Kevin Lee, DT Ernie Collier, C Joe Burch, TE John Burke
Disagree. Although they couldn't win the big games, the Cowboys are what, 22-10 under Philips after Parcells left?
Pete Carrol failed in the NFL because he wasn't able to convince kids to come play in NE the way he can convince kids to play in California. Not to mention that at USC, he has so much more talent and such great assistants, all he has to do is be a cheerleader...which he does quite well.
Bobby Grier inherited a pretty good team that needed some backup
players. Unfortunately, the players he drafted were simply not of
starting calibre. When the starters started began to leave due to
free agency or retirement, the backups could not do the job.
Grier and the coaching staff did not go on the road and actively scout
players. This was left to the area scouts who forwarded the information
to Grier.
P'ed & J'ed benefits from The Matt Cassel Experiment. Tops recruits will sometimes transfer out because of the number of players ahead of them. P'ed & J'ed can say that even if you don't play much, the NFL is still interested. Go even deeper, if possible.
This is, of course, outside of the constant threat of a recruiting scandal at USC.
As I remember it, Kraft got wind of Parcells' playing footsie with the Jets in the spring before his last campaign. He confronted Parcells who denied it. Kraft gave Parcells an ultimatum. Extend his contract with the Patriots. Parcells refused, he wanted to be a free agent. Given the fact that Parcells could not commit to the Patriots, Kraft had no choice but to strip his GM rights. You don't give the Jets next coach/GM control of your future draft. That's just dumb. Bobby grier, by the way, chose Terry Glenn over Parcells' pick, which was DE Brackens. Glenn broke the rookie record for receptions and was integral to the Super Bowl run, and he became a Parcells' favorite. under Carroll, Glenn backslid and became the cancer we saw in the early Belichick year. He was soft as a player because of his personal history and needed an authoritarian like Parcells to keep him inline.
I'm not blaming any of this on Bobby Grier. Grier was just a guy who whiffed in the draft, but he had nothing to do with the Parcells fiasco. Obviously, Parcells showed what kind guy he as when jumped from franchise to franchise for many years after that.
This draft is considered one of the best draft classes ever for the position of wide receiver. Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eddie Kennison, Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds, Bobby Engram, Terrell Owens, Muhsin Muhammad, Amani Toomer, and Joe Horn
I disagree that was the beginning of it. Parcells was hired by Orthwein. Kraft and Parcells were simply two strong personalities who never hit it off.
Kraft disliked Parcells from the start. Orthwein had given Parcells the power (I have an article if you'd like).
Kraft was the owner. If he didn't like his employees attitude and wanted to change the power arrangement, of course he could. He did, Grier came to "buy the groceries" more and more.
Parcells didn't like it, especially since he could see Grier was an incompetent ass kisser.
What came after was inevitable. Parcells didn't want a very good GM (Young NY giants) buying the groceries, why a complete fool like Grier?
Also Parcells has always been an abrasive a-hole, no dispute. Great football man, though.
Your history time line was way off BTW. Also, there were 9 top receivers in that draft 7 picked lower than glenn Glenn (whose mental instability and drug problems caused suspension).
1996 NFL Draft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Parcells could have traded around and got a receiver and defensive player. If you want to make the argument that Grier knew more about drafting talent than Parcells, go ahead.