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On the Couch : By Dr. Richard Lustberg An Analysis of Current Topics and Issues
in Sport Bill Parcells and the Tampa Bay Fiasco? Anyone who was surprised by Bill Parcell's decision not to return to coaching did not take into account at least two long standing psychological principles that have been well established by psychological research. These principles are: --The best predictors of future
behaviors are past behaviors, and Perhaps if the owners of the Tampa Bay Bucs and all those who were caught
off guard by Parcell's actions had this information, they would not be where
they are now. One wonders what they were thinking, because common
sense suggested they had no assurances of what Parcells would do.
Maybe they were using Jonathan Edwards, the famed psychic, as their
consultant? After all, he does purport to speak to the dead, and that
is exactly where the Bucs are at present when it comes to Parcells. Edwards aside, we are left with good old fashioned common sense and psychological research. When applied to Parcell's situation, it would have led one to the conclusion that, based upon his past behaviors, the specifics of which will not be chronicled here since they have been widely reported, it was no surprise that he turned down the job. Onto the second research outcome, which essentially has shown that personality traits are not pervasive across all situations. The fact that Parcells stands with the greats of all time as a football
coach does not mean that his behaviors, attitudes, and emotions that he
brought to his job, would be the same ones he exhibited outside the game,
and for that matter in his personal life. Or to take it one-step further,
that his actions would be consistent in both venues. In essence one
would not expect Parcells to be the same identical person on and off the
field when it came to a specific personality trait or constellation of
traits. Parcell's indecisiveness, sudden change of mind, internal turmoil, and
personal conflicts have all been hallmark traits he has exhibited in the
past when making decisions off the football field. The fact that
he displayed these traits is no surprise and was predictable. Parcells left the Jets and said he would not coach again. He tried the broadcast booth and left. He thought about coaching again and fans are saying they feel betrayed and hurt. This is not a personal relationship. The problem is the fans and media think it is, or have deluded themselves into thinking it is. This often happens when people have emotionally over invested themselves. It's entertainment people! Parcells is more that a football
coach with a family and life outside of football. He is 60 years old,
and both research and life experience tells us his present and future are
very different than a man even ten years his junior, let alone, someone
in their 30s. People at his stage of life, and throughout their lives for that matter, change their minds all the time about retirement, their future job status and life course. How many people agonize over changing jobs or turn them down after pursuing them? How many people do you know who actually accept jobs and then recant, or take a job and never even show up on the first day? I hear stories like this every day. It happens all the time out in the real world. Is Parcells any different? Should he be? In fact, it can be argued that Parcells is just keeping up with the times, as recent research has shown that both the rate of job and career changes is dramatically increasing. We often forget that we live in a society that allows for free enterprise and the ability to market one's skills. Parcells is a football coach with few peers; a prospective employer had mutual interest, end of story. Parcells has every right to act the way he wishes, as long as he is prepared to accept the outcome. Deal with it, because Parcells is human, and quite frankly it isn't all that bad. |
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