HAWKINS ON COWBOYS: Big Bill can't think about leaving now

Updated: December 27, 2005, 9:57 PM ET
Associated Press

IRVING, Texas -- Bill Parcells insists he isn't privately contemplating retirement.

Let's hope he's telling the truth and that he will at least finish his contract with the Dallas Cowboys -- and maybe even coach beyond next season.

The Big Tuna owes it to the Cowboys to stick around. He owes it to owner Jerry Jones. Most importantly, he owes it to himself to see through what he's started in what almost certainly will be his last coaching stop.

While Parcells is nearing the end of his third season and already guaranteed his second winning record in Dallas, he is realistically just getting to do things his way. Only now are we seeing a team put together in Parcells' image.

It's a team that Parcells likes and has never lost faith in, even when the Cowboys lost three of four games.

Drew Bledsoe, a veteran quarterback Parcells trusts and whom he drafted No. 1 overall in 1993, directs a ball-control offense that leads the NFL in time of possession. Running back Julius Jones appears healthy again. There are two big quality tight ends -- a position beloved by the coach -- along with Terry Glenn and Keyshawn Johnson, receivers with him in the past.

For the first time in team history, Dallas this season became primarily a 3-4 defense -- the system Parcells has always preferred. Six of the team's eight 2005 draft choices were players to fit the scheme, including DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears in the first 20 picks.

But with things seemingly in place on the field, there's lingering speculation that Parcells won't come back next season, the last of his $17 million, four-year deal.

Considering he didn't finish his contracts with the New York Giants, New England or the New York Jets, and with the emotional and physical strains coaching admittedly has on Parcells, it's not hard to wonder. Especially when the 64-year-old coach won't end the speculation.

"I'm not saying anything. I don't want any more questions about that. Thank you," Parcells said tersely this week. "I'll say what I want to say when I want to say it about those subjects."

There was speculation, to a lesser degree, about Parcells retiring after the Cowboys went 6-10 last season following his 10-win debut in Dallas. But that fallback actually convinced Jerry Jones to let Big Bill do things his way.

It led to that March day Jones called "the most expensive day in Cowboys history" when free agents Jason Ferguson, Marco Rivera and Anthony Henry all got five-year contracts -- and $28 million in signing bonuses. Bledsoe had already signed a $14 million, three-year deal.

That wasn't the case when Parcells first took the job and agreed to see what the Cowboys had before making wholesale changes. (Remember Quincy Carter?) When he managed to go 10-6 in 2003, that only created false hope before the 2004 team fell apart.

This year, a gutsy 24-20 victory at Carolina on Saturday kept the Cowboys in playoff contention, even though they could get left out even if they beat the St. Louis Rams on Sunday night for their 10th victory. The Panthers or Washington will have to lose for Dallas to claim the NFC's final playoff spot.

Regardless of whether Dallas makes the playoffs, Parcells has put much too much into this to leave. Imagine what he could do with another draft class and other prime pieces he could add through free agency.

Jones won't say if Parcells has been offered a contract extension. If he hasn't, that needs to be one of Jones' first offseason moves.

After all, there's been a great deal of progress, and pride has been restored to the franchise nearly 10 years after Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin led the Cowboys to their fifth and final Super Bowl win.

Bledsoe has said he will do whatever it takes to persuade Parcells to stay. Bledsoe signed a three-year contract in February and said he hoped to be with the Cowboys as long as the coach.

Despite all the speculation, Bledsoe and other players have seen no changes in Parcells' approach.

"He's been the same old coach to us," tight end Dan Campbell said Monday. "He's not changing anything up. He's not acting bizarre. He's not acting different."

And he's not talking about his future beyond this week's game.

Yes, it's the same old Bill.


Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index

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