FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells can agree on one thing: A book that dredges up the stormiest part of their relationship is old news.

“I don’t have anything to say about it,” Parcells said at the Cowboys practice facility in Irving, Texas, on Monday. “Gosh almighty, how many years ago was that?”

The book, “Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion,” by former Boston Globe sports writer Michael Holley, is more about the inner workings of the Patriots. But the most explosive details could be those that pertain to Parcells’ departure from New England following the 1997 Super Bowl.

The Patriots lost that one to the Green Bay Packers; Parcells did not fly back to New England with the team, and he was working for the Jets soon after. According to a review of the book on SI.com, Belichick said Parcells’ behavior was a distraction as the team prepared to play for the NFL title.

“Yeah, I’d say it was a little bit of a distraction all the way around. I can tell you first-hand, there was a lot of stuff going on prior to the game. I mean, him talking to other teams. He was trying to make up his mind about what he was going to do. Which, honestly, I felt was totally inappropriate,” Belichick said, according to SI.com.

“How many chances do you get to play for the Super Bowl? Tell them to get back to you in a couple of days. I’m not saying it was disrespectful to me, but it was in terms of the overall commitment to the team.”

The book also reports that there were “dozens” of calls made from Parcells’ hotel room at the Super Bowl to Hempstead, N.Y., where the Jets have their headquarters, according to SI.com. Attempts to obtain comment from the book’s publisher, William Morrow, were unsuccessful.

In his weekly briefing with reporters on Monday, Belichick downplayed the book, noting that many of the allegations had been previously reported. The claim that telephone records prove contact between Parcells and the Jets before the Super Bowl was reported at the time, though the records have never been produced publicly.

“I’m not part of hyping the book. I’m not on that hype program,” Belichick said. “It’s old news. All that stuff was talked about. I can’t tell you how many Bill Parcells questions and stories there were last year in the Dallas game and all that. I’m trying to concentrate on this season.”

But the comments about his former boss were new. Asked why a coach who is exceptionally tight-lipped would grant special access for a tell-all book, Belichick said, “There was a demand and some questions about what we were doing and how we were doing it and to try to give somewhat of an accurate opportunity for somebody to write about that, that’s what we did.”

Parcells helped turn New England from an NFL doormat to a Super Bowl contender, but he forged an uneasy alliance with owner Robert Kraft regarding control of personnel decisions. As the Patriots marched to the Super Bowl, it was an open secret that Parcells was antsy to leave.

After the game, Parcells denied that he planned to leave and ignored questions about whether he would return next year.

“I haven’t even thought about it, really,” Parcells said after the 35-21 loss to the Packers. “My whole time has been occupied with getting to this point.”

Parcells’ contract allowed him to leave the Patriots, but just days after the Super Bowl NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue ruled that New England was entitled to compensation if Parcells coached another team. The Jets tried to install Belichick as head coach and Parcells as a “consultant,” but the commissioner brokered a deal in which New England got four draft choices and the Jets could make Parcells the coach right away.

The Patriots hired Pete Carroll, who lasted three years. They replaced him with Belichick, who was working for the Jets at the time.

But that’s a different book.