Coughlin Out At Giants HC

After meeting with the ownership, Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin was asked to step down from his position today. Coughlin won two Super Bowls with the Giants but just finished his third consecutive year without a winning season.

Coughlin informed his staff that the Giants were making a change this afternoon.

After leading Boston College to an upset of #1 ranked Notre Dame, Coughlin’s named moved to the top of the Jaguars wish list in early 1994 as an expansion team. Coughlin was hired as the head coach and the chief personnel officer, in charge of the full football operation in Jacksonville.

After winning jst four games in their expansion season, the Jaguars went on a run late in 1996, beating heavily favored Denver and Buffalo in the playoffs to make it to the AFC Championship game. The Jaguars lost to New England in their first attempt at getting to the Super Bowl.

They returned to the game after the 1999 season after a 14-2 regular season contest and a 62-7 dismantling of the Dolphins in their first playoff game of the year. It turned out to be Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson’s last game in the league.

Coughlin was fired by then owner Wayne Weaver following the 2002 season after three consecutive losing seasons. Weaver calls it the biggest mistake of his tenure as the Jaguars owner. Coughlin sat out the 2003 season before taking the job as head coach of the Giants in 2004. The Giants were very specific that he would be the head coach and the personnel decisions would be made elsewhere.

After opening at 6-10, the Giants won the AFC East in 2005 and went to the playoffs four straight years, including a Super Bowl victory in 2007, beating the undefeated New England Patriots. The Giants returned to the playoffs in 2011 after going 9-7 and won the Super Bowl for the second time in four years.

Coughlin was known for his tough management style, but adapted to the changing player mentality, installing a “management council” with the Giants to meet with once a week and determine if his message was getting through and how the locker room was responded. He was asked several times in Jacksonville to do the same but rebuffed the suggestion at the time.

As a head coach, Coughlin had at least nine different assistants go on to be head coaches n the NFL and at least six who became head coaches in the NCAA.

His work with the Jay Fund is unparalleled in his philanthropic efforts both in the Northeast and in North Florida. The Jay Fund regularly holds events in Jacksonville and is one of the most well respected and well recognized charities in the area.

Tom maintains a home in Atlantic Beach and visits North Florida regularly.