Bill Parcells Will Be Inducted into Patriots' Hall of Fame, Robert Kraft Announces

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced Tuesday that former Pats head coach Bill Parcells accepted his offer to be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame as a contributor.

Parcells, 83, was New England's head coach from 1993 to 1996. Under his leadership, the team went 32-32 with two playoff appearances, including a trip to Super Bowl XXXI at the conclusion of the 1996 season.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Parcells coached the New York Giants to two Super Bowl wins before his time in New England.

During his eight seasons as Giants head coach, he went 77-49-1, and he retired after winning a second Super Bowl in 1990.

However, the Patriots lured Parcells out of retirement in 1993, and Kraft became controlling owner of the franchise the following year.

Parcells helped turn around a Patriots team that went 2-14 the year before he arrived, taking them all the way to the Super Bowl in his fourth season at the helm, but that would also be his last.

Following New England's Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers, he left the Patriots to become head coach of the New York Jets.

Parcells went on to coach the Jets for three seasons and the Dallas Cowboys for four, but he never again returned to the Super Bowl.

It is widely believed Kraft limiting Parcells' ability to make personnel decisions led to his departure, as Parcells famously said, "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries."

The Patriots pivoted to Pete Carroll as their head coach from 1997 to 1999 before hiring Bill Belichick.

Belichick was Parcells' defensive coordinator with the Giants from 1985 to 1990, playing a sizable role in their two Super Bowl wins.

Following a run as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Belichick spent one year on Parcells' staff in New England, serving as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 1996.

The familiarity Kraft gained with Belichick in 1996 likely played some role in the decision to hire him as head coach in 2000, and that led to an unprecedented run of success, as New England won six Super Bowls under Belichick.

If not for Parcells bringing Belichick to New England in 1996, it is fair to wonder if Kraft would have ever hired Belichick as head coach.

Because of that and his status as the second head coach to ever lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance, Parcells holds a special place in franchise history.

Once inducted, Parcells will become the first head coach to ever be enshrined in the Patriots Hall of Fame, and the second coach of any kind, joining longtime assistant Dante Scarnecchia.