EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Tom Coughlin, who returned the Giants to National Football League prominence by winning two Super Bowls, resigned Monday after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
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This season was the third straight losing year in NY, which is the worst stretch a losing season streak form 1973-1980.
Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who also led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles, in an ESPN interview: “We all know when you’re in this business, we have to get off the train some time”.
In his statement announcing he was stepping down as coach of the New York Giants on Monday, nowhere did Tom Coughlin use the word “retire”.
“I’ve changed and I’ve grown and I’ve developed and I’ve learned”, Coughlin said about his tenure with the Giants. This is a not a sad occasion for me.
After a memorable 12-season stint as New York Giants head coach was brought to an end this week, Tom Coughlin has hinted his career on the sideline might not be over yet.
“Obviously, the past three years have not been what any of us expect, and as head coach, I accept the responsibility for those seasons”. Coughlin will be most remembered as the head coach that ended the Patriots’ flawless season bid in February 2008 when he beat Belichick’s Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. “I feel that, we as players, we failed him by not playing to the level we could”.
Tom Coughlin turned an expansion team into a contender then found Super Bowl glory with the New York Giants after ditching his authoritarian approach for a more inclusive style.
“There is no specific timetable in place for finding a new head coach”, Mara said.
Coughlin also won three NFC East division titles with the franchise but quit after three successive losing seasons. “My contention is there’s a higher ground, there’s a greater goal, and that objective is team”.
“He has been a great coach to play for”, Manning said.
Coughlin pledged to devote more time to his charity – the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund – but did not rule out a return to coaching if the right opportunity presented itself. It is important to note that Coughlin’s departure from the Giants is a resignation, not a retirement. The Giants clearly hit that part of it out of the park 12 years ago, and everyone here knows there’s no guarantee it goes as well this time. Eli Manning and fellow current Giants Victor Cruz, Rashad Jennings, Zak DeOssie and Mark Herzlich sat in front of him, along with former players Shaun O’Hara, Rich Seubert and Chris Snee, his son-in-law.
When asked about what he would like from the future coaching staff, Manning indicated he’d prefer to remain in the same offensive system, an endorsement of sorts for the team to retain offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
Actually, this might have been one of Coughlin’s best years as a coach.
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Mara added that Coughlin was not the lone person at fault for the Giants’ back-to-back 6-10 seasons. “We say ‘next time.’ I’m trying to convey that here”.
