(upbeat music) - We are honored to welcome Nunyo Demasio, who is the author of a compelling book, a New York Times bestseller.

It's called "Parcells", that's Bill Parcells, "A Football Life".

And Bill Parcells wrote it with you.

Nunyo, great to have you with us.

- Thanks for having me.

Great to be with you.

- Now look, I did this before.

As a longtime Giant fan, as a fan of Parcells who never really wanted to be on the other end of his yelling and screaming.

Who was Bill Parcells and why does he still matter?

Not just in football, but in coaching overall, please.

- Bill Parcells was a central character in the modern NFL.

Why he still matters is just look around the league.

This is a man who retired from football in 2010.

If you look in today's NFL, he still has coaches that he's tutored in the NFL.

Of course, Bill Belichick, he's the biggest name, but it's other guys.

It's Sean Payton, who coaches the Denver Broncos.

It's Todd Bowles, who coaches the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It's more than that though.

Parcells had I think a dozen former assistants who became head coaches.

And it's not just quantity, it's also quality.

Tom Coughlin, he won two Super Bowls.

- That's right.

- Belichick six, et cetera.

- So I wanna be clear, Bill Parcells is a Jersey guy.

- Yes, he is.

- Through and through.

In my view, it's more important what you think, that Bill Parcells growing up in New Jersey, experiencing this Jersey thing that we like to call grit, if you will, influenced, greatly influenced his leadership style, that's my view.

Describe his leadership style and why was he in the face of so many of his players, particularly Bill Sims?

Why was he in their face and why would they put up with it?

(Nunyo laughs) - Well, Bill, his leadership style was very... it was unique.

He just wasn't somebody who yelled at you.

I think what really allowed him to turn teams around was several different reasons.

But the one thing I can think of is was he was a master manipulator.

Bill Parcells really was a psychologist, a master psychologist, master motivator.

And think about it, an NFL team has 52 players.

He customized his approach for every single player.

So, he would find out little things about the players.

He would talk to their high school coaches, even calling their parents, and he would use whatever method worked.

He would tailor his methods to each player.

- Why did he treat Lawrence Taylor, the great LT, in my view, the greatest, and I said this earlier in a segment, one of your colleagues, Gary Myers, who wrote a book on the Giants Super Bowl team and what happened after with them, listen, it's not debatable.

Lawrence Taylor, the greatest defensive player of all time.

Did he, in my view, from my understanding as a student of leadership, he treated him differently.

He did not scream and yell at LT.

He did not get in his face, wouldn't have worked.

Didn't challenge him a lot.

Because?

- That's a great point.

And that goes to the point everyone looks at Bill Parcells as a yeller, and he did yell most of the time.

But for players who it wasn't effective with, he wouldn't yell.

You didn't need to yell at a Lawrence Taylor.

So, Bill Parcells did not yell at Lawrence Taylor, but that wasn't the only one.

There were obscure players who Parcells learned, okay, yelling is not gonna work on this player.

So, let me see what else can work that maximizes their ability.

And that's what he did with Lawrence Taylor.

- Gary Myers, in an interview that I did, also talked about Bill Parcells being very generous and caring to his players later on in life.

Let's assume that that's true.

He was generous.

He gave money to them and cared about them.

Very compassionate.

But in the book, you talk a lot about, and he talks a lot about his failures in his personal life that he did not, he wasn't the father and nor was he the husband he knew he needed to be.

So, it's ironic that the Giants players wind up being family to him, but his family, family, talk about that Nunyo.

- Right.

That is, you're really capturing what one of the most fascinating things about Bill Parcells, he absolutely was a paradox.

Because that would be his main personal failing and he would be the first to say it.

And he did say it in the book.

He was very self-aware and candid.

He was an absentee father.

He had three daughters.

He didn't go to their high school graduations.

But conversely, there were so many former players who say that Parcells essentially raised them.

So, he was obsessed with football.

He regretted not spending as much time with his family.

And that's what makes him a paradox.

- In reading the book, I actually went to the index and looked for a name because early on in my career, I won't make this about me, but one of the first corporations to underwrite our programming was First Union Bank.

And at First Union Bank was Don Parcells.

- Right.

- And he actually signed off on one of the first sponsorships for this show.

- Oh wow.

- For our programming.

Absolutely.

And so, what's ironic and interesting to me is that Bill Parcells' brother, Don, had such an influence on Bill Parcells.

He was so devastated when he lost his brother, Don died way too early.

Talk about that relationship, how powerful it was, and the impact it had on Bill Parcells as a, not just as a coach, but as a man, as a human being.

- Yeah, they were extremely close.

One of my favorite chapters was when I wrote the chapter when Bill Parcells went to play a game.

It was a Monday Night Football game.

- Was that the day of the funeral?

- Yes, great memory.

His brother, I mean, it was such an emotional period.

He had to go to his brother's funeral.

He had a game Monday Night Football.

And he just had a mix of emotions and the Cowboys came back and won the game.

And the player who scored the winning touchdown had his brother's number.

And that's all Parcells was thinking about at the end of the game, "He's here with me."

So, they had a really close relationship.

- Hmm.

Switch gears.

Bill Parcells, outside of the Giants, you mentioned the Cowboys.

Bill Parcells, Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones.

Parcells goes there to be the coach.

And P.S.

what did he say about cooking a meal?

If you're gonna ask me to cook the meal.

- You let me shop for the groceries.

- So, he wanted to be the GM, pick the team, the meal, and cook it, be the coach.

Why did the Jerry Jones-Bill Parcells marriage not work?

- I would say that it didn't work in terms of, he did not take the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl, which was a high standard and he did not repeat that.

However, if we look at the situation closely, the Cowboys had three consecutive five and 11 seasons.

Parcells won them their first Super Bowl, excuse me, got them to their first playoffs in several seasons.

- That's right.

- So, his standard was so high.

So, he never won a Super Bowl, but he did help the franchise out.

- Well, what about the control issue?

Meaning Jerry Jones, owner of the team, clearly has a hand, we're taping this at the end of December.

You know what happened with Bill Belichick?

There's a new coach up there.

It's not about football.

To me, it's about leadership.

It's about succession, it's about control.

How much of Bill Parcells was a guy who not only was gonna cook the meal as the coach, but he was gonna make sure that he was the general manager.

And if not, he didn't want any part of it.

Meaning he was a control guy, was he not?

- Absolutely.

Parcells was a control freak.

He would say to future potential owners, "I'm not for everyone.

"I want to do it my way."

So, you had to, that was part of the package.

He was an autocrat.

When he came in, he had to do it his way and he would always say, "If it didn't work, just fire me."

- Just fire me.

Because he, did he care?

Again, in a lot of the leadership work, I do, I quote the great Colin Powell, there's a chapter I wrote in a previous book and Colin Powell said to me in an interview, "Hey Steve, sometimes great leaders piss people off "because they make decisions "that are best for the team, best for the organization.

"If you don't like it, that's okay.

"'Cause I'm not here for you to like me or be popular."

Did Bill Parcells care if he pissed people off, A, and B, did he really wanna be liked?

- No, not at all.

And some players thought he enjoyed it.

- What?

- Kevin Mawae used to hide from Bill Parcells at the Jets training facility.

This is a 300 pound human being, a giant.

And he literally would hide from Parcells at the Jets training facility because he would say, like one time he just said hello to Bill Parcells just crossing paths with him in the hallway and Parcells just ripped into him.

He's like, "Don't worry about how I'm doing.

"Just make sure you block your guy on Sunday."

So, he just didn't care.

It was about, you know, getting things done.

But ironically, a lot of players who didn't like playing for Parcells, they said that when they retire, there was not a day that went by without them thinking of Parcells, thinking about the life lessons, sayings that he would say to, that they would say to their children.

So, it shows you the impact that he had for a coach that was hard to play for, - Could Bill Parcells in 2024 with the culture of the NFL being what it is, culture of sports being what it is, social media being what it is, could Bill Parcells ever be a successful coach these days?

- That's a great question.

- Being Bill Parcells the way he was.

- Right.

That's a great question.

I think that it would be more difficult, but the thing about Parcells was he would always adjust to the situation.

He was an autocrat, but he was a flexible autocrat, if that's not contradictory.

So, I think he would've made some adjustments, but it would've been a challenge to do things the way he did back in the day.

He even said one time that, hey, if he would've been arrested for some of the things he made his players go through with all the rules now that they have with practice and that sort of thing.

- Would the NFL be what it is without Bill Parcells?

- No, absolutely not.

You know, I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but would the US be what it is without, you know, influential presidents like Teddy Roosevelt.

Bill Parcells didn't speak softly.

He actually spoke loudly and carried a big stick.

But his influence is really spread throughout the NFL and he really shaped a lot of players' careers, coaches' careers, and his legacy still lasts to this day.

Dan Campbell, who was... - Yep, Detroit.

- Yeah.

He took his team to the NFC Championship.

He still uses a lot of Bill Parcells's methods.

- So listen, you don't have to be a Giant fan to appreciate Bill Parcells, his impact on the game.

The book is "Parcells: A Football Life" by Nunyo Demasio and Bill Parcells.

Nunyo, I cannot thank you enough for this interview, but also this book, I learned so much.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- You taught me a lot about him.

Nunyo, thank you so much.

All the best.

- Thank you.

Appreciate you having me.

- You got it.

- Take care.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

That is Nunyo, who told us a lot about a great coach.

We'll see you next time.

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