In 2003, Bill Parcells took over a pitiful Dallas Cowboy team that had gone through three straight 5-11 seasons under head coach Dave Campo. This stretch of losing seasons was the worst since 1987-1990 when the team went 3-13, 1-15, and 7-9 respectively. And, before that, you would have to go all the way back to the 1960’s to find a Cowboys team that had performed so poorly for three straight seasons.

The Parcells era ended this year after three winning seasons, two playoff appearances, and no playoff wins. After starting strong with a 10-6 season, the team regressed winning only 6 games the next season, and then posted two straight 9-7 seasons. This was a definite improvement, but far short of expectations when Parcells took over the team.

The Good.

After three straight lackluster seasons under Dave Campo and a series of bad drafts, Bill Parcells brought the one thing the Cowboys were in desperate need of before he arrived: Talent. He inherited a team with few stars and leaves behind a team with multiple stars on both sides of the ball. This includes Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Terry Glenn, Terrell Owens, and Julius Jones on offense, and DeMarcus Ware and Terence Newman on defense. Add to this players like Roy Williams and Greg Ellis who were among the few standouts when Parcells arrived, and you get a team that is more than capable of getting that playoff win that has eluded the Cowboys since 1996.

Parcells also brought two other important factors to the team: Discipline and Confidence. These were two crucial elements of the team that won three super bowls in four years in the early 90’s, but were lost after the 1996 season. In fact, Parcells best season with the Cowboys, the 10-6 season with Quincy Carter at the helm, was almost all attitude – certainly, the talent on that team didn’t scream 10-6.

The Bad.

Bill Parcells will be inducted into the Hall of Fame once the NFL is sure he has actually retired for good, but he did have some faults in his stay in Dallas. Chief among them, of course, was a failure to win a playoff game. Another fault may very well have been too much experience.

Is that possible? Is having too much experience coaching ever a bad thing?

It can be. How many times did we hear Parcells refer to a current player by relating to how they were like one of his old players? This can be handy for identifying strengths and weaknesses, but it also has its bad side. When a coach creates a series of archetypes in his mind and tries to mold players into those archetypes, he can hurt the talent on the team.

Julius Jones is a good example of this. Julius has mentioned this off-season that he is excited about the upcoming season and relying on his instincts more after feeling he ran like a robot too much last year. He blames this on being coached too much – but I would blame it on being coached badly.

Remember Troy Hambrick? Now, Troy Hambrick isn’t going to be confused with an elite back, but the running back that busted a few good runs in 2002 as Emmitt Smith’s backup was not the same back that ran like a robot under Parcells in 2003.

In both cases, the coaching became a problem. Some backs are built for running straight forward and getting the tough yards, and other backs are better weaving their own path. In both cases, the running back should be running on instinct. When you try and take one type of running back and mold them into something else you run the danger of losing what you liked in them in the first place.

Last, I think Parcells did a poor job of handling Terrell Owens. Granted, I don’t think he should have been given that job in the first place – it is no secret that the T.O. acquisition was due to Jerry Jones, not Bill Parcells – but as the head coach it was his duty to accept the decision and make the best of it. Instead, he seemed to push Terrell Owens away.

The In-Between.

Another major change made during the Parcells era was a shift to the 3-4 defense. I have full confidence that the defense will strong this year, but the 4-3 employed under Dave Campo was also a very good defense. And, while I think the defense this year could be the best the Cowboys have fielded this decade, much of that is because of the Wade Phillips style of playing the 3-4.

Bill Parcells played toward the weakness of the 3-4. He stressed stopping the run first, but the 3-4 is a defense that is inherently strong against the pass and weak against the run compared to the 4-3 defense. I prefer playing towards the strength of the defense, and that means shutting down the passing game.

Final Grade: B-

The Bill Parcells era accomplished the major thing that Jerry Jones and Dallas fans needed it to accomplish: Rebuilding America’s Team. There is no doubt the team that takes the field this year will be a vast improvement over the team that took the field in 2002 in Campo’s last year.

He also posted three winning seasons, something the Cowboys hadn’t done much of this decade previous to Parcells taking the reigns.

And, let’s not forget the entertainment: Parcells was always entertaining. No one can work a press conference like Parcells can.