THE Nomad Coach : Bill Parcells’ Career Is Marked by Wanderlust

For a self-proclaimed New Jersey guy, Bill Parcells seems to have plenty of wanderlust.

Soon to be a free-agent coach, he may end up being that true rarity, a Super Bowl-winning free-agent coach.

Could Parcells return to the Jersey Meadowlands? Or go elsewhere in the NFL? We won’t know until after he finishes up another Super Bowl assignment.

For someone who craves stability in the way his football team is run, Parcells sometimes displays a strange way of conducting his professional life.

For example, just days after he led the Giants to the 1987 Super Bowl victory, Parcells and his agent were talking with the Atlanta Falcons about a coach-general manager position. Parcells was ready to bolt the team he grew up following, partly because of a five-year offer for nearly $1 million a year, partly because he wanted more say in off-field matters.

But NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle acted quickly, telling Parcells he had to fulfill the final two years of his contract.

“It seems it was a case of the agent more or less pushing the situation on his own,” Rozelle said. “I told the agent, ‘Nope, that’s it.’ ”

Parcells himself said that was it in May 1991, four months after leading the Giants to their second NFL title in his eight years as coach. It was an awkward time to resign, having already gone through the draft and begun planning for training camp.

Parcells felt he had no choice. He wasn’t seeking richer pastures or more power, but something a bit more important: his health.

“I didn’t want to leave football, but I knew I couldn’t keep going,” he said. “It took us exactly six months to find out something was wrong. I knew it. I could feel it, even though it did not show up on the tests.

“It was in December 1991 when I went to the doctor and said, ‘I’m getting on this treadmill and either will drop dead or find out what’s wrong. I can’t take this.’ ”

He underwent a non-surgical procedure to clear his arteries. Less than a month later, Parcells negotiated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was interviewed by the Green Bay Packers for coaching jobs.

Parcells was intrigued by Tampa Bay’s offer of $6.5 million for five years, plus as much authority as he needed. He was ready to accept, then backed away, in part because he wasn’t sure about handling both coaching and personnel duties.

After he was interviewed by the Packers--who wound up hiring Mike Holmgren, the man he’ll face in an intriguing Super Bowl coaching matchup--Parcells asked to be reconsidered for the Buccaneers job. Team owner Hugh Culverhouse, saying he felt “jilted at the altar” the first time he offered Parcells the position, said he no longer was interested.

Lucky thing for Parcells he didn’t take either job, because his health problems returned.

“I finally had to have bypass surgery to fix it,” he said. “If it had happened in 1996, I would not have had to have it, with the advances in medicine.”

Parcells returned to the television booth for the ’92 season, his second with NBC. But the itch to coach remained.

“Once I started feeling good again, well, if you like football, this is what you want to do. You are what you are, and Bill Parcells is a football coach,” he said. “It’s like going to the schoolyard when you’re a kid. . . . You have to grow up some time, but fortunately I haven’t had to.”

The Patriots have grown from a 2-14 teams with four coaches in five years to AFC champions in four years. That’s exactly what Parcells had in mind when he settled in New England.

“Time goes on, and it’s a different time,” he said when he took the job. “It’s a different place. I’m a New England Patriot. It’s where I started my professional coaching career, and it’s where I’m going to end it.

“I’m not interested in winning a few games here and there. I’ve done that. I look for the ultimate challenges in this profession.”

That means Sunday’s game in New Orleans. For many coaches, that would be the culmination of a Hall of Fame-caliber career. Parcells could win the championship, then make good on his vow the day he took over the Patriots:

“This is my last deal, there ain’t any doubt about that. I’m John Wayne after this one.”

But now there are signs that Parcells won’t be riding off into the sunset. A year ago, he asked Patriots owner Robert Kraft to void the final year of his five-year deal. Parcells hasn’t hid his displeasure with not having final say during the draft.

The wise first-round choice of Terry Glenn, who set a rookie receiving record this season, was not Parcells’ but that of personnel director Bobby Grier.

And the New York Jets--now there’s a challenge for anyone--haven’t interviewed anyone for their vacant coach and GM positions, waiting instead until the Super Bowl is over and Parcells is free to talk.

How odd would it be for Parcells to be standing on the sideline in Giants Stadium again, coaching the home team? The one that wears green and reportedly is willing to pay him $3 million a year to take charge.

Is that what it would take to bring Bill Parcells back home again? Sort of.