Parcells & Belichick: Old Friends [Yahoo Sports]

Jaime Aron, AP, Sports Writer -

Two longtime football coaches were talking this summer about the way things used to be, back when they worked together and really pushed their players.

They lamented how much more coddling is done these days, especially in training camp. So they decided to do something about it. One said he was going back to the old way; the other said he'd do the same.

That might not seem like a remarkable tale, except that the conversation was between Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.

And it was one of what's becoming a routine series of calls between them.

"Hey, he's a guy I think a lot of," Parcells said Tuesday. "It's a good sounding board, that's all. I'm probably using him right now more than he's using me."

The two Bills haven't talked about each other much since Belichick left Parcells and the New York Jets behind six years ago, dissolving a succession plan that was put in writing, ruining what many thought was more than a working relationship....

"I sat down with Bill Belichick this summer and we started talking about all this stuff we used to do," Parcells said. "He says, `I used to get mad at you at the way you used to make us do this. Now I'm going to go do it.' He reminded me of a couple of things that we used to do." ...

That's actually part of a bigger change that involves scrapping the 21st century approach of "more shorter segments, quicker work, and then on to something else," rotating the emphasis between the offense and defense.

"I'm going back to where you're going to have to stick it out," Parcells said. "I just think that helps the mental toughness of your team. That's what Bill and I really were talking about. He told me that's what he was going to do. He asked me what I've been doing and I told him, `I'm doing the same thing as you."'