Bill Parcells built a reputation as a no-nonsense NFL head coach during his three-decade career with four different clubs.
But the man once nick-named the Big Tuna showed a more congenial side during his appearance at the Bob Reed Football Clinic Sunday at Saratoga Springs’ East Side Recre-ational Field.
Parcells smiled several times during a question-and-answer session with players and parents from the Saratoga Springs Pop Warner program, and he even quipped about one young player’s Buffaslo Bills T-shirt.
`We’re going to have to get you a different shirt,` said Parcells.
Parcells also had a serious message that he passed along to the various Pop Warner coaches in attendance.
`It doesn’t need to be professional football [at the youth level]. It needs to be fun football,` he said.
Later, Parcells elaborated on his message.
`This is a difficult game, and some of these coaches will treat these kids like they were 22 or 23 years old,` said Parcells. `That makes it not fun for them. They should have fun playing this game at their age.`
Parcells was invited to speak at the clinic named for former Minnesota Viking Bob Reed, a Saratoga Springs resident and president of the local chapter of the NFL Alumni Association.
`It was good for him to come over and speak the same words I would have spoken,` said Reed.
`I thought the questions the kids had were so great, and coach Parcells was very gracious in his answers,` said Saratoga Springs Pop Warner president Matthew Riker.
Parcells has nearly be-come a full-time Spa City resident since leaving his job as a consultant with the Miami Dolphins last year. So, it was an easy decision for the two-time Super Bowl championship coach to make the short trek across town to speak with the next generation of football players.
`It’s fun,` said Parcells. `I was one of them once, too. I don’t ever forget that.`
Many of the players’ questions focused on Parcells’ three trips to the Super Bowl ` two successful trips with the New York Giants and one with the New England Patriots. One young player asked Parcells what `that Super Bowl feeling` was like, while another asked about the Gatorade showers that became a part of the professional sports landscape after he received one during the Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl championship season.
`It was fun for a while, but when it got cold, I didn’t like it as much,` said Parcells.
The parents also got some questions in, including one person who asked Parcells what it was like for him to see some of his former assistant coaches such as New England head coach Bill Belichick have their own success.
`I do enjoy that,` said Parcells. `One of the things you try to do as a head coach is hire good assistant coaches, and it’s great when they go on to have their own success.`
Riker said he hopes to have more NFL celebrities appear at the Bob Reed Clinic. `We want to make this bigger next year,` he said.“
