NFL Hall of Fame: Will Former Giants Coach Bill Parcells Get Enshrined in 2013?

The upcoming class for the 2013 NFL Hall of Fame has a lot of intriguing names on it.

There's Larry Allen, Warren Sapp, Jonathan Ogden and former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who are all eligible for the first time.

Then there is former head coach Bill Parcells, who is on the ballot for the third time.

Some people are still surprised that Parcells has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, but yet, he's on his third attempt to get in.

Parcells was in line to take over several different coaching opportunities (Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) but decided not to take their job offers and may have burned the bridge with the media and former executives of those organizations.

Despite his troubles with the media in the past, it's hard to argue what Parcells did as an NFL coach and later on, as an NFL executive.

Let's look back at Parcells' career and determine if he'll get in for 2013.

New York Giants Head Coach (1983-1990)

After serving as the team's defensive coordinator from 1981-1982, Bill Parcells succeeded Ron Erhardt as the head coach for 1983.

His first season was a disaster at 3-12-1 and some even questioned if he was the right guy for the job.

The Giants stuck with Parcells and got results as the team finished 9-7 in 1984 and 10-6 in 1985 and got to the playoffs for the first time, making it to the NFC divisional round.

In 1986, the Giants finished with the best record in the NFL at 14-2, beat the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins to get to Super Bowl XXI and as underdogs, knocked off the John Elway-led Denver Broncos 39-20 and guided the Giants to their first-ever championship.

The Giants missed the playoffs in 1987 at 6-9 and again despite finishing 10-6 in 1988 but got back to the postseason in 1989 at 12-4, but they were eliminated in the NFL division round.

In 1990, the Giants went 13-3 and defeated the Chicago Bears and 49ers to get to Super Bowl XXV, where again, they were the underdogs against the Buffalo Bills.

The Giants triumphed 20-19 after Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard game-winning field goal wide right, and the Giants had won their second championship under Parcells.

Following the 1990 season, Parcells decided to retire for the first time, citing health reasons.

To this day, Parcells is still considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach in Giants history and built a tremendous legacy in New York.

Regular-season record: 77-49-1

Playoff record: 8-3

Super Bowl record: 2-0

Won Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV

New England Patriots Head Coach (1993-1996)

In 1992, Bill Parcells had a handshake agreement to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach, but at the last second, turned it down.

In 1993, Parcells succeeded Dick MacPherson as the new head coach of the New England Patriots and attempted to improve a team that went 2-14 in 1992.

His first year was a losing season in 1993, but they did improve on their record, going 5-11.

In 1994, the Patriots won the division and got to the playoffs for the first time since 1986 but lost to the Cleveland Browns, who were coached by his former defensive coordinator in New York, Bill Belichick.

After going 6-10 in 1995, the Patriots went 11-5, won their second division under Parcells and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars to get to Super Bowl XXXI to face the Green Bay Packers.

The Packers were just too much for the Patriots in New Orleans and Parcells tasted defeat for the first time in the Super Bowl as his team lost 35-21.

Following the season, Parcells decided to leave after he had several disagreements with owner Robert Kraft, which is where the famous quote, "They want you to cook the dinner, they at least should let you ought to shop for the groceries," came from after Kraft vetoed some of Parcells' draft choices.

Regular-season record: 32-32

Playoff record: 2-2

Super Bowl record: 0-1

1996 AFC champions

New York Jets Head Coach (1997-1999)

After leaving New England, Parcells wanted to coach the New York Jets but wasn't allowed to due to his contractual obligations to the Patriots.

Parcells tried to circumvent this by having the Jets hire Bill Belichick to be the coach and have Parcells as an adviser.

Robert Kraft threatened legal action, which lead to then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue working out a deal between the two that allowed Parcells to take over the head coaching vacancy of the Jets.

Parcells was taking over for Rich Kotite, who got fired after a 1-15 season in 1996 and the team showed drastic improvement in going 9-7 in 1997.

In 1998, the Jets won the division and knocked off the Jaguars in the divisional round but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, 23-10.

In 1999, the Jets got off to a 1-6 start but were able to salvage the season finishing at 8-8 but failed to make the postseason.

Parcells decided to step down as coach of the Jets after 1999, citing again health reasons, but he remained with the team for one more year as the general manager.

Regular-season record: 29-19

Playoff record: 1-1

Dallas Cowboys Head Coach (2003-2006)

This is the one that shocked a lot of people, especially many longtime Giant fans.

The Dallas Cowboys had suffered three straight 5-11 seasons under Dave Campo, and Jerry Jones knew he needed to make a change, so he threw big money to lure Parcells out of retirement.

Parcells immediately made the Cowboys a better team and got them to the playoffs at 10-6 but lost in the first round to the Carolina Panthers.

By getting Dallas to the postseason, Parcells became the first-ever head coach in NFL history to get four separate franchises to the postseason.

The Cowboys missed the playoffs in 2004 by going 6-10 and again in 2005 despite going 9-7.

In 2006, Parcells made the change to go with Tony Romo as his starting quarterback, and the team finished 6-4 with Romo as the starter and got into the playoffs at 9-7.

The Cowboys lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round 21-20.

Parcells had one year left on his deal for 2007 but decided to retire again for good as an NFL head coach.

Before stepping away from Dallas, there had been rumors circulating that Parcells was interested in the Giants general manager job, taking that from the retiring Ernie Accorsi, but apparently the Giants weren't interested.

Regular-season record: 34-30

Playoff record: 0-2

Miami Dolphins Executive VP of Football Operations (2008-2010)

In 2007, the Miami Dolphins finished 1-15 under Cam Cameron and looked like they had no sense of direction under GM Randy Mueller.

So Miami brought in Parcells to take over as the Executive Vice President of Football Operations and hoped for some serious change.

Parcells nearly took the same job with the Atlanta Falcons, the same team he nearly became the head coach for almost 20 years ago, but turned them down to take over in Miami.

Out was Mueller and in was Jeff Ireland as the GM.

Out was Cameron and in was Tony Sparano, Parcells' former offensive line coach with the Cowboys.

Parcells brought in former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington and drafted Jake Long with the first pick of the 2008 NFL draft.

In 2008, the Dolphins went 11-5 and won the AFC East division title but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Baltimore Ravens, 27-9.

The Dolphins finished 7-9 in 2009 and 2010 before Parcells decided to step down as the VP.

Regular-season record: 24-23

Playoff record: 0-1

Parcells' Coaching Tree

A lot of Bill Parcells' longtime assistants have gone on to become great head coaches in the NFL.

The best one, of course, is Bill Belichick, who was Parcells' defensive coordinator with the Giants, Patriots and Jets.

Belichick has won three Super Bowls with the Patriots in five tries and has built a dynasty in New England over the last 13 years.

Another Parcells successor is Tom Coughlin, who first coached the Jacksonville Jaguars and then the New York Giants. Coughlin was a wide receivers coach under Parcells when the Giants won the Super Bowl in 1990.

Coughlin has won two Super Bowls with the Giants in 2007 and 2011.

Then there is Sean Payton, who served as Parcells offensive coordinator while with the Cowboys.

Payton took the New Orleans Saints job, turned that franchise around and won the Super Bowl during the 2009 season.

Other notable assistant coaches that went on to become head coaches were Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Al Groh, Tony Sparano and Eric Mangini.

Final Verdict: Hall of Famer

When you take a look at the 22 years Bill Parcells was a head coach, his numbers are impressive.

He was 172-130-1 in the regular season, 11-8 in the playoffs and won two Super Bowls while finishing as a runner-up in another one.

Parcells was an unknown coordinator who took the Giants from being a push-around and made them into an NFL powerhouse in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He also took sputtering franchises like the Patriots, Jets and Cowboys and made them into playoff teams again.

And then after being an NFL head coach, he had success as an NFL executive and got the Dolphins back to winning for a short time.

Whether you love him or hate him, you can not argue with the success Parcells has had in the NFL.

Every team he came across became a winner, and he got the best out of all his players.

I don't even think the media he ticked off in the past will be able to keep him out a third straight time, as Parcells should take his rightful place in Canton and in the NFL Hall of Fame for the Class of 2013.