Former Jacksonville Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin may not currently be employed by a team in the NFL but that hasn’t stopped him from contributing to the game in some manner.
According to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, Coughlin has been staying busy by advising new Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who was named the organization’s successor to Ron Rivera earlier in the week.
Tom Coughlin advising Matt Rhule with Panthers transitionhttps://t.co/UaJvrKSe6D pic.twitter.com/2wXkkNjtDX
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) January 12, 2020
Rhule’s only experience as an NFL assistant came under Coughlin when he spent the 2012 season on the New York Giants’ staff as the assistant offensive line coach. In the process, he learned a lot and utilized it throughout his other endeavors in the college ranks, specifically Coughlin’s way of interacting with his top players.
“Yeah, I think I took a lot,” Rhule said on the “Rapsheet and Friends” Podcast. “I think what was really key is that year was right before I was head coach. And so as I went to be head coach at Temple, I tried to apply all the things that I had learned from Tom. I thought coach Coughlin was amazing at his ability to get his message across to the entire team by visiting with one guy at a time. We had some personalities, some great players on that team — [Jason Pierre-Paul], Justin Tuck, Eli Manning, Ahmad Bradshaw. I thought Tom did a great job of going to those guys and understanding that they were probably influencers on the team and making sure the message was getting out there.”
Rhule is one of the brightest coaches out there, and regardless of where he’s coached, he’s always been able to get players to rally around him. He’s also influenced the coaches around him in a positive way. Still, with just one year of NFL coaching experience, it’s a given that he’d need a little help learning the ropes and assembling a staff and that is something Coughlin could offer him assistance with.
As fans of the Jags are aware, Coughlin was fired by the Jags in December after the NFLPA called them out for the treatment of their players under Coughlin. However, it appears Rhule still has a great deal of respect for Coughlin who was a very successful coach when he was on the sidelines.