Bill Parcells supports former assistant Tom Coughlin

Two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells, who will be inducted into the Giants' Ring of Honor on Sunday, credited much of his success to hiring a coaching staff that he believes "had to be among the best ever." Current Giants coach Tom Coughlin was one of those assistants, so, it was natural that Parcells came to his defense when asked about the criticism he has received for "losing control" of his 1-2 team.

"I'm a big Tom Coughlin man," Parcells said in a conference call with media covering the Giants. "I'm a big fan of Tom's. I know what kind of coach he is, and I'm not interested in what the naysayers or other people say about him.

"I think he's a good man. I think he's proved to be a sound coach over the years. He's taken a team to a championship. Hey, we all come on rough times once in awhile, but I have every confidence in Tom."

Coughlin took all the responsibility for the Giants' errors in their 29-10 loss to Tennessee last Sunday, and some exonerated him because he wasn't the one on the field throwing two interceptions or losing a fumble or committing 11 critical penalties. At the same time, you could make the argument that a coach sets a tone for how his players should behave on the field, and their performance reflects his approach to discipline.

Parcells said he tried to ingrain winning habits in his players through his emphasis on the things that cause a team to win and to avoid the things that cause a team to lose, but he added that certain players will crack under pressure no matter what a coach does. Without referring specifically to Coughlin, Parcells said, "Everybody says, Penalties, penalties.' But as a coach, I never really believed penalties were my fault.

"I always believe that all penalties could be eliminated with concentration or good judgment. You try to create a situation where the players concentrate and a situation where the players use good judgment, but you can't make them do that. They have to do that. So, things like that, I think coaches get stuck with as if penalties are their fault. In reality, I don't think they are. There's no coach teaching a team to commit penalties."

When it came to leadership within the team, Parcells suggested that was easier to maintain in his heyday with the Giants because players weren't as transient as they are now with all the movement in free agency. He cited the consistency of such players as George Martin, Harry Carson, Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor and Jim Burt in the locker room on his 1986 and 1990 teams that won Super Bowl titles.

Asked if he maintains regular contact with Lawrence Taylor, who currently is facing legal troubles and will not attend the ceremony for Sunday night's game against Chicago, Parcells said he used to run into Taylor often in south Florida but hasn't seen him in four or five months. Thanks to a prior engagement, Parcells also will not be in attendance at the ceremony, but he expressed a deep sense of gratitude to the Giants' organization for inclding him in the Ring of Honor, and he spoke of the importance of working with general manager George Young and how they generally were on the same page when it came to choosing the type of player Parcells wanted on his team.

As a native of Englewood, N.J., Parcells felt a special connection to the franchise because he grew up as a Giants fan. "I remember going to games at the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium and watching 'Giants Huddle' on TV," he said.

Asked to recall his happiest day as a Giant, Parcells mentioned winning a game against the rival Redskins on a last-second field goal by Raul Allegre and, of course, included the two Super Bowl wins. But he said his best memory was of the NFC championship game at the end of the 1990 season when Jeff Hostetler had replaced the injured Simms as quarterback and the Giants had to go to San Francisco and try to stop the 49ers from three-peating. They won, 15-13, on Matt Bahr's field goal. There was no bye week that year, and the Giants flew directly to Tampa for the Super Bowl.

"The plane ride to Tampa, which was about five hours, was one of the happiest times of my whole life, and it certainly is vivid in my recollection. I think anybody who was on that plane, it's pretty vivid."

Asked to describe the scene, Parcells said, "I wouldn't say it was a party atmosphere, but it was euphoric. I'm not saying we didn't have a couple of drinks, because we did, but it was just kind of a euphoric time for all of us. Everybody on that plane felt a great sense of accomplishment. Then, the trip ends, and my secretary, Kim Colby, is waiting for us in Tampa and she's got our [hotel] keys, and that plane ride ends and we go right to work. But it was a happy time."

Parcells recently relinquished control of the Miami Dolphins' front office, but the 69-year-old coach is uncertain about what's next. However, it seems clear he wants to remain involved in the NFL. "I'm not a sit-around-the-fire kind of guy," Parcells said. "I want to do something. We'll figure it out."

Asked about his health after undergoing previous heart-related procedures, Parcells said, "I'm doing pretty good. I've got my weight way down. I work out. You have little things here and there, but when you're my age, it just happens. You've just got to keep the truck movin' if you can."

Before signing off, Parcells offered this message to Giants fans: "Go Giants. I'm just appreciative of them because no one ever got better support than I did in that stadium. It was just unbelievable."