Bill Parcells was called a lot of things during his coaching career, some of them even printable, but the nickname that stuck most was The Tuna.
Tuna also came to mind when Parcells was passed over for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. As in, something smells like a can of spoiled tuna.
Everyone seems to agree that Parcells has no-brainer credentials for the Hall of Fame. Yet he couldn't get the necessary 36 votes out of 44 selectors to gain admission to the Hall.
Because what happens in the voting room stays in the voting room, for the most part, we may never know the real reason Parcells got snubbed. Vote totals and individual ballots are not released, and the discussions about individual candidates are kept secret.
We do know, thanks to Sports Illustrated's Peter King, that the voters spent 57 minutes debating Parcells' Hall of Fame worthiness. That was longer than any other candidate. Heck, the voters spent 66 minutes combined on the five modern-era candidates who did get voted in.
No offense to Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin and Willie Roaf, but none of them can hold a candle to Parcells when it comes to impact on the game.
Jack Butler, a 1950s-era player, made it as a senior committee nominee.
As to why Parcells was snubbed, Jim Trotter, another Sports Illustrated writer and voter, offered a few hints.
Trotter said the voting had the feeling of a "housecleaning." In short, there are some big names becoming eligible in the next few years at several key positions. If some of those players didn't make it this year, they might not make it any time in the near future.
Parcells also seemed to be a victim of the candidacy of Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the owner of the 49ers during their five Super Bowls, according to Trotter.
Parcells had a strong East Coast contingent of voters while DeBartolo had a bloc of West Coast voters. Parcells made the first cut from 15 candidates down to 10 while DeBartolo didn't. Parcells failed to make the next cut down to five.
It's not a stretch to imagine the pro-DeBartolo crowd deciding that if their guy couldn't make it, Parcells wasn't going to make it, either.
Parcells probably had a few enemies in the room to begin with. His disdain for the media, other than a select few he admitted to his inner circle, was always apparent. He had a habit of creating a stink whenever he left a coaching job.
But purely as a coach, Parcells has few peers. The Giants were simply awful for the better part of two decades before he led them to two Super Bowl wins. He won that second Super Bowl with a backup quarterback and a masterful game plan to defeat the heavily-favored Bills.
The Patriots were also in the dumps before he led them to a Super Bowl. He took over a 1-15 Jets team and had them in the AFC Championship in two years.
Perhaps his biggest coaching miracle was getting the Cowboys to the playoffs with Quincy Carter at quarterback. He took the Cowboys to the playoffs again three years later after making the bold move of benching decorated veteran Drew Bledsoe for some kid named Tony Romo.
Jerry Jones hired Parcells to get the franchise out of the doldrums and rally support for a new stadium. Although he never coached in the $1.2 billion palace in Arlington, Parcells can claim partial ownership.
While he was criticized for bringing in so many of his former players while in Dallas, Parcells knew a football player when he saw one. And when he didn't see one, such as when he benched former can't-miss prospect Drew Henson after one half of a Thanksgiving game.
Parcells has an extensive coaching tree that includes the two men on opposite sides of the field Sunday in Indianapolis: Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Giants coach Tom Coughlin. Sean Payton, Charlie Weis and Al Groh are also from the Parcells tree.
During his prime with the Giants, Parcells was 2-1 against the 49ers' Bill Walsh and 1-0 against the Redskins' Joe Gibbs in the playoffs. He also beat another Hall of Fame coach, Marv Levy, in the Super Bowl.
Parcells was a crafty motivator, known for constantly needling his players to get the best out of them. Consequently, he became the first coach to get the now-obligatory Gatorade bath.
He was also an innovator of another sort when he passed over for the Hall of Fame in 2001 and 2002. Back then coaches could become immediately eligible upon retirement, but nobody believed Parcells could stay away from football for long.
Now, coaches have to wait five years before they are eligible for the Hall of Fame. Perhaps this year's snubbing will be the impetus to change the way candidates are elected. There has to be a way to open up the process so that candidates are voted on their own merits and not because of what might happen to other hopefuls.
The Tuna will eventually get in the Hall, but you can't help but recall one of Parcells' most famous quotes during his time with the Cowboys: "You are what you are." As of right now, Bill Parcells is not a Hall of Fame coach. That just doesn't sound right.
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
