NFL Tickets
When it was announced that Tom Coughlin “resigned” from his position as head coach of the New York Giants back in January, only those who were living under a rock believed the two-time Super Bowl winning coach willingly left the team with one year remaining on his contract.
The following day after the announcement during his press conference, Coughlin essentially let everyone know that the move wasn’t his choice when he said, “If this was 7-9, I would have been in Mr. Mara’s office, Mr. Tisch’s office, fighting.”
Coughlin, 69, did a number of radio interviews on Tuesday and reiterated that he was indeed fired from his position and wasn’t incredibly pleased about it.
Tom Coughlin didn’t agree with the Giants’ decision to part ways https://t.co/59MsI53laJ pic.twitter.com/lx2biy3wO0
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 2, 2016
“Hey, do I agree with the move? Of course not,” Coughlin told Jay Mohr on Fox Sports Radio. “It hurts. It hurts. ‘Former’ is not a good word. I don’t like the word, but that’s the way it is.”
Sure, Coughlin led the Giants to a 6-10 record in 2015, his third-straight losing season with Big Blue, but it was hardly all his fault. Outside of Odell Beckham Jr. and the occasional solid mid-round find, GM Jerry Reese has done an absolutely abysmal job through the draft in recent years and hasn’t fared much better in free agency.
The Giants showcased a deplorable defense in 2015. The unit gave up the most total yards in the NFL (6,725), the most passing yards (4,783) and was ranked 24th against the run. This wasn’t due to poor coaching. Instead, it had more to do with the fact that the talent Coughlin was given was nothing short of an abomination.
The fact that Reese kept his job and Coughlin was forced out is simply baffling and a grave injustice.
Coughlin was in the running for the Philadelphia Eagles‘ head coaching vacancy prior to their hiring of Doug Pederson, but things never progressed nearly as far as reported in the media.
“As time went on, it didn’t just feel like it was going to work,” Coughlin told The Michael Kay Show about his interview with the Eagles. “I don’t know if it was the right fit for the Eagles or for me. … In all reality, it wasn’t going to work, and we left it at that.”
Coughlin still makes an occasional appearance at the Giants’ facilities and has reportedly expressed interest in remaining with the franchise in some sort of front office position. But it’s still unclear whether or not this will come to fruition.
Clearly, he still wants to be involved in the NFL on a daily basis,
“There’s always a plan, but how in fact is all comes together takes more than one party,” Coughlin said on The Michael Kay Show. “I would like to stay very close to the game in some capacity. All this time, I’ve been judging my own emotions, my own feelings.
“… I’ve been a head coach in this league for some 21 years, 22 years. I think I’ve amassed some ability to help an organization, and I certainly would like to be able to do that.”
While it can be argued until the cows come home whether or not the decision to move on from Coughlin had to take place this season, neglecting to keep him in the mix behind the scenes would be nothing but another incredibly foolish decision from Reese.
Share 
