By the time the New York Giants made Bill Parcells their head coach in 1983, he had already worked at Hastings College, Army, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, and Air Force. That’s a lot of moving boxes for someone whose mother kept wondering when the wandering would stop.

In a recent discussion on the Football Doesn’t Lie Podcast (via The 33rd Team on X), Bill Parcells shared his mother, Ida Parcells’, reaction to him being announced as the Giants HC after years of exploring multiple coaching roles.

“She said, ‘When are you going to get a real job like your brother, the banker?’ See, coaching was not prestigious enough. She wanted doctors and lawyers for sons, not football coaches,” Parcells said. “So she said, ‘When are you gonna get a real job? Like your brother, the banker, aren’t you tired?’

“These are exact words. ‘Aren’t you tired of those smelly gymnasiums? When are you gonna get tired of that?’ But you know, obviously, as my income went up and started earning quite a bit of money, more than the banker, she kind of changed her attitude a little bit.”

Bill Parcells made his NFL head coaching debut in 1983 with the New York Giants. However, he joined the franchise years before that. In 1979, after coaching in defensive units since 1964 on different football teams, Parcells joined the Giants as defensive coordinator. However, within weeks, he resigned from the role as his family reportedly wanted to stay in Colorado. As a result, Parcells took up a job in a land development company in Colorado instead. But he couldn’t stay much time away from football.

Parcells joined the New England Patriots in 1980 as the linebackers coach under Ron Erhardt, and a year later in 1981, he moved back to the Giants as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Two years later, in 1983, due to a sudden coaching vacancy left by Ray Perkins, who resigned to succeed the legendary Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, Bill Parcells became the new head coach.

However, since the Giants followed a strict policy of keeping exact contract figures confidential, Parcells’ initial head coaching salary remains unknown. But according to Celebrity Net Worth, Parcells earned $40 million in salary over his NFL career as coach.

From taking up the head coaching role in New York in 1983, Bill Parcells continued in the same position, even though he jumped ships by the end of his NFL career.

Parcells left the Giants and announced his retirement following the 1990 season due to health problems. However, shortly after, in 1993, he came back for a head coaching role and joined the Patriots.

After four seasons (1993-1996) in New England, followed by three seasons (1997-1999) with the New York Jets and then a four-year stint (2003-2006) with the Dallas Cowboys, he made the final stretch of his NFL career before finally calling it quits and moving to executive roles.

By the end of his 19-season NFL career as the head coach, Bill Parcells boasted a 172–130–1 record while winning two Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV).

So, even though Bill Parcells’ mother had doubts about the stability of her son’s job after becoming the head coach of the New York Giants, Parcells eventually led a successful career with many accolades under his name.

The post “When Are You Going to Get a Real Job?”: Bill Parcells’ Mom’s Reaction to Him Getting the Giants Head Coach Role appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.