Bill Parcells and Saints: Big Tuna Should Steer Clear of New Orleans

If there was a song that would sum up Bill Parcells' coaching career, it would be Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

Not "Sean Payton's Way" or "The Saints Way." Which is why, even though it increasingly looks like Parcells will take the New Orleans Saints' job, I think he should stay away.

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ESPN's @mortreport on whether Parcells will be #Saints coach: "My gut feeling is, he'll do it...that he'll do it if they reach out to him."

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) March 29, 2012"

Parcells is a man used to having a lot of control over the organization he is coaching, and that simply wouldn't be the case in New Orleans. He'd be a hired gun as much as he would be the general.

Ron Borges of the Boston Herald put it well:

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For one, the ultimate control freak will have no control over anything, and the students will know it.

If he wants to cut someone he legitimately believes is part of the problem, can he do it? If he doesn’t like Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 defense, which is diametrically opposite to his preferred 3-4—favoring smaller defensive linemen rather than behemoths; regularly blitzing corners and safeties rather than getting to the quarterback with linebackers and edge rushers—what can he say? Nothing.

It is now 15 years since he famously said on his way out the door in New England, “It’s just like a friend of mine told me. ‘If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.’” Time changes the cost of groceries, but not the desire to buy them.

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And let's keep in mind something else: Walking in as head coach of the Saints is no easy gig, not this year. They are a team that will be under intense scrutiny all year in the wake of Bountygate. They are a team that still hasn't worked out a long-term extension with Drew Brees.

And what about all of the questions revolving Payton?

Did you guys map out a strategy before the season? Are you coaching your way or trying to implement his tactics and philosophies to maintain a sense of familiarity for the team? How hands-on will you be with Steve Spagnuolo's defense?

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Something about this just feels so awkward, like when the substitute teacher tried to prepare a "fun" lesson plan or when the babysitter acted a little too stern in doling out punishment. It's just not the same, and everyone knows it.

Parcells is one of the greatest coaches ever and deserves respect in any room he walks into. But he's never walked into a room where he was a placeholder and not the main squeeze going forward. This won't be his team. It won't have his stamp on it, and I'm not sure that will work.

Time will tell. But I think this is a relationship best left to the golf course and out of the coach's office.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets have won a lot since 2009.