It was one of those rough patches in Patriots history. The 1985 AFC Championship glory was long gone. The Patriots made the playoffs in 1986, but were ousted in the first round. That was followed by 8-7, 9-7 and 5-11. Then came 1990 – Rod Rust’s only season as head coach – a dreadful 1-15. So the team tabbed the affable Dick McPherson from Syracuse University as the new head coach. He brought energy and spirt, but not wins. The team did improve to 6-10 in his first season, but followed it with a 2-14 record in 1992, which led to his firing.
The team was at rock bottom. It had lost credibility. There seemed no hope. But that’s when two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Parcells shockingly came out of a two-year retirement to accept the Patriots head coaching job.
His pedigree alone reinvigorated the region.
Parcells had an outstanding reign as the Giants head coach throughout the 1980s but waltzed into retirement following his second championship in 1990. He was not yet the franchise rebuilder he’d go on to be. He, alone, was the hope. Well, he and the first overall draft pick, which he used to select Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe.
Parcells brought a toughness and charisma which he used to manage players and fill reporters’ notebooks with clever one-liners. He had a purpose and he knew how to win. The team stumbled throughout his first season with a rookie quarterback and was just 1-11 and seemingly on the brink of relocating to St. Louis.
But, the team ended the season with four straight wins and a twinkle of hope managed to peak out of the darkness. The team started 1994 with a 3-6 record before a miraculous 26-20 comeback overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings at Foxboro Stadium started a seven-game winning streak.
Behind Bledsoe’s arm, the Patriots rocketed to a 10-6 record and their first playoff appearance since 1986. Just like that, in just his second season, Parcells guided the Patriots back to postseason respectability.
With new ownership vowing to keep the Patriots in New England, a champion head coach, and a young start quarterback, football was back in Foxborough.
The 1995 season saw the team take a step back. Bledsoe injured his shoulder and, while he played through it, he struggled. The team started 1-5 and finished 6-10. But there was new talent on the roster. Parcells had drafted Bledsoe, Willie McGinest, Chris Slade, Ty Law, Ted Johnson and Curtis Martin and added free agents like David Meggett, Bob Kratch, William Roberts and Otis Smith.
Controversy never seemed far away from the Patriots and the 1996 NFL Draft brought it roaring back. Parcells had asked for the final year (1997) off his contract, which made it likely that 1996 could be his last in New England. Nonetheless, he wanted to draft a defensive lineman with the seventh overall pick. Personnel director Bobby Grier wanted wide receiver Terry Glenn.
So owner Robert Kraft had to mediate and sided with Grier. Glenn went on to have an outstanding season while the team also added Lawyer Milloy and Tedy Bruschi in that Draft.
The damage was done, however. Parcells had his house on the market by mid-season, but after an 0-2 start, the team was 3-3 through six games and went on to an 11-5 season capped by a 23-22 comeback win over the Giants in Week 17 to clinch the AFC East and a first-round playoff bye. The Patriots were hosting a playoff game for only the second time in history.
It then clobbered the Steelers in the divisional round and, after the Jaguars upset the Broncos in Denver, the Pats hosted and won the AFC Championship to reach Super Bowl XXXI. In just four seasons, Parcells had led the Patriots to their second Super Bowl appearance while restoring franchise credibility much the way Chuck Fairbanks had done in the 1970s.
Credibility is the word that earned Parcells his forthcoming red jacket. He lifted the Patriots from the deep ocean depths and captained their ship back to the NFL’s championship game.
A multiple-time finalist for Patriots Hall of Fame induction, Parcells was never voted in by the fans. Kraft, however, controls the contributor category of The Hall and decided it was time to add Parcells to the contributor list that includes Gil Santos, Tracy Sormanti, Billy Sullivan and Dante Scarnecchia.
So Parcells will receive his red jacket to hang beside his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket. He will join either Adam Vinatieri, Julian Edelman or Logan Mankins for the 2025 induction event in the fall. Parcells place in franchise history will be unquestioned. His legacy will now live in the Patriots Hall of Fame.
