| | FOXBORO, Mass. -- Bill Belichick was hired Thursday as coach
of the New England Patriots after New York Jets boss Bill Parcells
made a last-ditch phone call to mend fences and grab New England's top pick in this year's draft.
The call Wednesday night prodded Patriots owner Bob Kraft to pay the first-round draft choice Parcells had demanded as compensation for letting Belichick out of his contract with New York.
"For a No. 1 draft choice, we can bring in a man that I feel certain can do something, rather than the uncertainty of a draft
choice," Kraft said Thursday night after shaking hands with
Belichick on a five-year deal. "And it wasn't even close when I
thought about it that way."
It took 24 days for the Patriots and Jets to agree on
compensation for Belichick and a couple hours for Kraft and his
would-be coach to reach an agreement somewhere off the highway
between Boston and New York.
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I think the hiring of Bill Belichick will make for a fun time when the Patriots and the Jets play each other. It shows me that Bob Kraft wants him badly and is willing to give up a first-round pick and a few others to get him. That's saying something, especially for a team that could use that No. 1 pick.
Kraft is high on Belichick, and I can understand why. I'm eager to see how Belichick deals with his players the second time around. He is as good a defensive coach as any in the league. With his reputation, he deserved another shot.
What the Patriots need is to get over their soft attitude they have. There are too many good players on that team for them to be folding up their tent after Week 8. It will change, and Belichick will do it a lot like Bill Parcells did; that's his blueprint.
The most important key now is the assistants Belichick hires. Who does he hire to keep Drew Bledsoe focused? Is it Jets offensive coordinator Charlie Weis? What does Belichick do on the defensive side -- call defenses or hire a defensive coordinator? Which Jets assistants will he try to take?
New England will do just fine with Belicheck. The Jets will do just fine with Al Groh, and Parcells is still in the house. They get another No. 1 pick, and I think the Jets are only another player or two away from getting to the Super Bowl anyway. |
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The Patriots will give New York their No. 1 draft pick this year and a fourth- and seventh-rounder in 2001. The Jets gave the
Patriots a No. 5 in 2001 and a No. 7 in 2002.
"It resolves a lot of issues lingering a long time and helps
Bill get back into coaching, where he wants to be," Parcells said.
"I think Bob has the coach he wants and we were compensated pretty well."
Terms of Belichick's contract remain to be hammered out.
The deal came so quickly, Kraft claimed, that there wasn't time to discuss whether Belichick would also take over as general
manager. Belichick said he wasn't concerned about having total
control of the team.
"This is not a one-man band here. I can't play all the
instruments," he said. "I don't think it's important who's right.
I think it's important what's right."
Belichick was 37-45 as coach of the Cleveland Browns and an assistant with New England when the Patriots went to the 1997 Super Bowl. He went to the Jets when Parcells and Kraft had a falling out about control over player personnel decisions.
The Jets made Belichick their coach and Parcells a consultant to get around the fact that Parcells was still under contract then with New England. When commissioner Paul Tagliabue rejected that arrangement, New York gave New England four draft picks and made Belichick the contractually designated heir to Parcells.
On Jan. 3, Parcells stepped down and Belichick was elevated to coach. A day later, Belichick quit.
"Hopefully, this press conference will go a little bit better
than the last one I had," Belichick joked Thursday. "Hopefully,
my tenure here will be a little bit longer."
Kraft dodged questions about who would have final authority over player personnel. Asked why he hasn't made Belichick the general manager, Kraft said, "We'll think about that. Thank you for suggesting it."
Control over drafts and trades was precisely the reason Parcells moved on in 1997, saying, "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries."
Instead of letting Parcells do the shopping, Kraft gave that
authority to Bobby Grier and hired Pete Carroll as coach. The team
got worse in each of the three seasons under that arrangement,
dissolving Parcells' Super Bowl team into a fifth-place finisher
with an 8-8 record.
Carroll was fired with two years left on his five-year contract. But before the Patriots could get permission to talk to Belichick, Parcells resigned and Belichick was automatically made coach.
Belichick decided he didn't want the job, saying he had
misgivings about his future considering the team was for sale.
Tagliabue and a federal judge said Belichick was stuck with the
Jets, leaving him in limbo while the Patriots decided whether he
was worth a first-round choice.
"Any time you give up a first-round draft pick, that's
something you obviously don't want to do," said quarterback Drew
Bledsoe, who was among the players who had lobbied for Belichick.
"But to get a coach of the caliber of Bill Belichick, it's
probably a worthwhile thing to do."
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Bill Belichick was prepared to sit out the year.
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Bill Parcells talks about his phone call with Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
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