Introduction pro Pro football players usually go to work on Sunday But the real work in the National Football League NFL happens from Monday through Saturday That's when a team's coaching staff prepares for that week's opponent Coaches create game plans that give their teams the best chance to win They run practices that allow the players to put those plans into motion And they serve as the face of the team before the media and the fans All of that preparation is put to the test on Sunday For three hours a head coach has to be aware of everything happening on the field His duties might include substituting players calling plays managing the clock dealing with the officials and inspiring his players Read on for a look at the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL and how their hard work Monday through Saturday led to glory on Sunday
10 Bill Parcells right and star linebacker Lawrence Taylor run off the field after the Giants beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV Bill Parcells bill Bill Parcells grew up in New Jersey playing football not far from where the New York Giants play their home games After playing college football at Wichita State Parcells decided to become a coach He had stops at seven different colleges as he worked his way up the coaching ranks Then he made the leap to the NFL where he served as an assistant with two teams Finally in 1983 he was named head coach of the Giants His first Giants team won just three games But the team owners had faith in Parcells and their faith was soon rewarded In his fourth season Parcells led the Giants to a 14 2 record in the regular season Then the team won its first Super Bowl title by throttling the Denver Broncos Parcells's coaching style focused on motivation He was known to get inside his players heads He seemed to instinctively know when to scold them when to encourage them and when to do a mix of both And his players responded Parcells and Big Blue got back to the Super Bowl after the 1990 season This time they were heavy underdogs The Buffalo Bills had an explosive offense that could score points in bunches So Parcells drew up a game plan
to counter Buffalo's strength When the Giants had the ball they focused on their ground game They ran the ball 39 times and kept the ball for 40 33 more than two thirds of the game By taking time off the clock the Giants kept the Buffalo offense off the field The game plan worked as the Giants pulled out a 20 19 upset Parcells would go on to coach three more teams the New England Patriots the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys He took all three to the playoffs with the Patriots advancing to the Super Bowl and the Jets to the conference championship game He's the only coach in NFL history to lead four teams to the playoffs and three of them to the conference championship or beyond
