Parcells Praises Ryan

Rex Ryan has a fan in Bill Parcells.

"I saw myself," Parcells told The Post yesterday. "That's what I was. I could see it.

"I've been in this business a long time now. Some guys are football guys. Some guys are in the football business, but they're not football guys. They act like their job says football but they're in it for a paycheck.

"This guy's a football guy, and I could smell that."

Parcells never liked celebrity quarterbacks and he doesn't like celebrity coaches.

"He didn't talk about whether he's gonna get two cars or one car, or am I gonna do a TV show?" Parcells said. "He didn't give a bleep about that. "Can I get players and are we gonna be able to win?' I just liked him because I just sensed what he represented and what he wanted to accomplish."

Say what you will about Parcells. The man knows coaching talent when he sees it. Just look at his coaching tree. Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Sean Payton, and Tony Sparano were all Parcells assistants at one point. Guys like Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel who have not been as successful as head coaches were at least regarded highly enough as assistants to land head jobs. If Parcells thinks Ryan will succeed, the Jets made a great hire.