The Comeback Kid

Football coach Bill Parcells is out of retirement and back in the
NFL, this time as the newest head coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Parcells,
who leaves a winning legacy wherever he works—to include the New
York Giants and Jets and the New England Patriots—will now take
over a Texas football team that is currently ranked second to last in its
conference and dead last in its division. Yet while Parcells has a proven
ability to put down-and-out teams at the top of their game, he also tends
to quickly—and rancorously—abandon those same teams shortly
thereafter.

"It seems like that is his M.O.," says John Silva, Ph.D., a
professor of sports psychology at the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill. "In almost every instance, he's hopped on when teams are on
the upswing and done a good job at continuing that upward spiral."

But don't expect Parcells to change his ways and stick around long
if he succeeds in improving the Dallas team. In his previous three stints
as a head coach, Parcells left as soon as the teams reached their top
form. "He always gets out when the team is about to skid a little bit,"
says Silva. "I don't see him as the kind of person that puts himself in
vulnerable positions. He is the kind of guy that always likes to be on
top."

Even so, Parcells does face a big professional challenge in taking
another team to Super Bowl, which would invite an even greater personal
challenge.

"If I were to put the gauntlet down to Bill Parcells, my challenge
would be: 'Why don't you stay with a team for a while? Why don't you see
if you can build a consistent and repeating championship team?'" poses
Silva. "It's going to be really interesting to see if he can pull the
rabbit out of the hat one more time."