Re: Grady Little
He let his player (Pedro) control his decision, which is something a manager should never do. That's ignoring too that Pedro was visibly tired, is known to gas over 100 pitches and that reliever Timlin had been money against the Yankees.
As for the actual question, coaching is not overrated, as it has been well documented that a good coach can elevate a mediocre team and a bad coach can run a good team into the ground. Now, if you want to call Phil Jackson overrated because he's only coached good teams, I have to ask this question: How come Doug Collins and Del Harris couldn't do the same thing he could with essentially the same team core?
Parcells, especially after this year, has only helped cement his status as one of the greatest of all time. Every time he's come to a team with a losing record, they're in the playoffs within two seasons.
(years in italic are the season before Parcell's first year, bold are Parcell's years)
Giants
1982 4-5
1983 3-12-1
1984 9-7 (1-1 ps)
Patriots
1992 2-14
1993 5-11
1994 10-6 (0-1 ps)
Jets
1996 1-15
1997 9-7
1998 12-4 (1-1 ps)
Cowboys
2000 to 2002 5-11 (all three seasons)
2003 10-6 (0-1 ps)
I think that speaks for itself