The last time the New York Giants were champions, Tom Coughlin was the head coach. He led Big Blue to a pair of Super Bowl victories over Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots but his departure from the team after the 2015 season is still very much a topic of conversation.
The Giants framed Coughlin’s exit as a ‘retirement’ but during the press conference, he revealed that he wanted to continue coaching.
The Giants had just completed their third consecutive losing season and fourth without a postseason appearance. It was time for Coughlin to step aside, even if many felt the team’s demise was not on his shoulders alone.
In an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post, Coughlin spoke about what it meant to him to run the Giants for 12 seasons.
“It meant everything to me. I’m a New York kid, I was born and raised in Waterloo, New York, the black-and-white TV, all I ever saw were the Giants and the Browns,” Coughlin said. “Thinking that I would ever have a chance to be there, and then be there with Wellington Mara as the owner, then the second time around with Bob Tisch there … incredible memories, and I was very honored and very thrilled and very humbled to be a head coach of the New York Giants.”
Serby asked Coughlin if he had any regrets about his tenure with the Giants.
“I regret the fact that I didn’t coach in New York for another five years,” he said laughingly. “I loved the position that I was in. Given the circumstances, we were trying to win games the best we could, that’s all. Would have been nice to finish there.”
Asked if it hurt to be let go by the Giants, Coughlin did not hold back.
“Oh, it hurts a lot, you kiddin’ me? It’s very, very painful. There’s a lot of pride at stake. It’s happened to me before and I didn’t like it, and I don’t like anything about it. It’s reality, so you move on,” Coughlin said.
Now that he is essentially out of the game, the 76-year-old is on many experts’ lists for Hall of Fame consideration. In the interview, he had many sentiments about his late wife, Judy, who passed away last year, the players (including Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, and Odell Beckham Jr.), the fans, and also spoke about what makes him worthy to be enshrined in Canton.
“I hope it’s the way in which I conducted myself,” he said. “The fact that when I took over the Jacksonville Jaguars, this was an expansion team, and in the first five years we were in the AFC Championship Game twice.
“It was an opportunity to put people together from all walks of life in football and start from scratch, and I certainly enjoyed the challenge of that, the historical challenge was very meaningful to me. My experiences as a head coach at Boston College, and working for Bill Parcells with the Giants and Super Bowl 1990 had a tremendous impact on me. And despite slow ups and downs, obviously, ’07 and ’08, and ’11 and ’12 were pretty good years for us in New York.”
Coughlin said he did not know who would present him for enshrinement when that day came saying he’s not looking that far ahead, but his choice likely won’t be a surprise (Eli, Strahan, Chris Snee, perhaps?).
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