We all have our regrets. Bill Parcells’ decision to end his coaching tenure with the New England Patriots the way that he did is one of his.
The Patriots inducted Parcells into its team Hall of Fame on Saturday, 28 years after he coached his last game for New England. During his induction speech, the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach expressed his regrets for letting his relationship with team owner Robert Kraft reach a boiling point that eventually led to Parcells’ departure.
‘We sometimes reflect on things, and you wish you would have done things a little differently,’ Parcells said. ‘I come back here and I see this, I wish I would have done things a little differently.’
Parcells had an infamously poor relationship with Kraft, who bought the Patriots in 1994.
The Hall of Fame head coach had taken on joint responsibilities as head coach and general manager when he returned to New England in 1993 after serving as the team’s linebackers coach in 1980 and a brief retirement in 1991 and 1992.
When Kraft bought the Patriots one year after Parcells’ return, the new owner and incumbent head coach started to butt heads. Parcells felt that Kraft was interfering too much in the personnel decisions he once had full control over.
‘If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries,’ Parcells said after the Patriots lost Super Bowl 31. He departed that offseason and took over the New York Jets’ head coaching job in 1997.
‘Over the years, we’ve both mellowed,’ Kraft said as he introduced Parcells at the Patriots Hall of Fame ceremony. ‘We’ve shared laughs, swapped stories and reflected on the foundation we built together. I want to say, ‘Thank you, Bill. Thank you for the fire. Thank you for the fight. Thank you for the foundation. And thank you for the many contributions you made to this franchise.”
The Patriots hired Parcells’ top assistant, Bill Belichick, three years after Parcells’ departure. Kraft allowed Belichick full control as head coach and de facto general manager, and the Patriots went on to win six Super Bowls during Belichick’s tenure between 2000 and 2023.
Parcells eventually coached the Cowboys from 2003 to 2006 before retiring from coaching. He also served as the executive vice president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins between 2007 and 2010.