Parcells’ Presence Proves He’s No Fish Out Of Water

Twenty reporters scribble feverishly in notebooks. Five minicam operators keep rolling. Three newspaper cameramen angle for shots.

All of them focus on one familiar voice - not a face, a voice - coming from a tiny black speakerphone in a small room at Patriots headquarters.

The voice of Bill Parcells.

It’s been more than seven months since he stopped coaching the team that was an embarrassment when he arrived in 1993 and went to the Super Bowl four seasons later.

Yet, from the quality of the club he left behind to his packed conference call Wednesday to the emotions of New England fans, his presence remains strong.

“You don’t put as much blood into a situation as I did there and not leave part of you,” he says.

Tonight, he’ll coach his first game at Foxboro Stadium since his Patriots won the AFC championship there last January.

The anticipation for his return with the New York Jets began when the schedule was announced.

“It really will be fun,” said Pete Carroll, Parcells’ successor. “It’s going to be a big-time night.”

Parcells expects to feel emotional. But, unlike his last appearance in the stadium, there’ll be plenty of boos pouring from the capacity crowd.

After all, wasn’t his departure from the Patriots controversial and, to compound his treason, didn’t he become coach of their AFC East rival?

“I have no idea what the reception will be,” said Parcells, the first coach to play against the team he led to the Super Bowl the previous season. “I just tried to work hard while I was there… . How anybody perceives that, that’s out of my control.”

Maybe this will give Parcells, nicknamed “The Tuna,” some idea: “Grill the Tuna” T-shirts have been hot sellers in parking lots outside Foxboro Stadium since the exhibition season began. “Can the Tuna” shirts are available at the Patriots pro shop - if they aren’t sold out, that is.

A radio station planned a rally at the Hatch Shell - known for the Boston Pops’ Fourth of July concert climaxed by fireworks - to stoke anti-Parcells fever.

Inside the stadium, Parcells should benefit from his knowledge of Patriots players. But, as he did with the Patriots in 1993, he’s taken over the worst team in the NFL. And the Patriots, at 2-0, this year might be the best.