Six months ago, Bill Parcells packed up his office -- the one with "Vice President of Football Operations" painted on the door -- at Miami Dolphins headquarters and hasn't really looked back. The jury on Parcells's legacy in Miami is still out. At best, he turned a horrible team into a mediocre team, but Parcells seems content with the job he did. However, in a short interview with the Miami Herald, he admits that drafting Pat White was a bad move.
Armando Salguero hooked the Big Tuna on the phone for a chat, and Parcells says he's "enjoying [his] freedom." Though he was supposed to retain some sort of consultant role with the Dolphins, he says he hasn't talked to general manager Pat Ireland since the end of last season (then again, who really ever wants to talk to Pat Ireland unless they absolutely have to?), but he had lunch with Tony Sparano a few weeks ago.
Parcells's biggest success in Miami was during his first year. The Dolphins had finished 1-15 the previous year and then put in the greatest season-to-season turnaround in NFL history by winning the AFC East. Then again, an offense based on a gimmick and the fact the Patriots were Tom Brady-less had a little something to do with all of that.
One of the few mistake Parcells admits to is drafting QB Pat White in the second round in 2009.
"We violated our principles," Parcells says.
Parcells thought White, the kind of dual-threat quarterback who could excel at the college and high school levels but never seemed fit in an NFL offense, would help the team with its wildcat offense. It turned out White couldn't complete a pass like Pat Ireland can't complete an interview without asking if someone's mom is a whore. The whole thing was a bust.
"He just wasn't a prototypical quarterback pick," Parcells said. "He was a great college player, and we let that color our judgment."
Parcells also thinks he might have erred in choosing Pat Long over QB Matt Ryan with the first pick in the 2008 draft.
"Maybe we should have," is all he admits.
Otherwise, Salguero infers that Parcells is content with his time in Miami. Though for a team that has had a notoriously cursed time filling the quarterback role since Dan Marino's retirement, Parcells really came up cold in trying to fix the problem that worries Dolphins fans the most.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
