Coughlin

[Lughead]

Coughlin could be close to 'losing' Giants

 

Ian O'Connor / Special to FOXSports.com

Posted: 1 hour ago

 

 

 

Tom Coughlin was a tough guy on introduction. He walked into that first news conference the way Jack Nicholson walked toward the witness stand to take on Tom Cruise.

 

 

This was a four-star general, not a two-bit coach. Coughlin had those steely eyes, that sturdy chin and that American flag pinned to his lapel. If he could've ordered every reporter in the room to drop down and give him 10, he would've done so with the faint trace of a smile.

 

The social club Jim Fassel was running? Gone in a New York minute. Coughlin was going to make the Giants all about blood and sweat, and above all else, he was going to keep them on the field.

 

Injury lists that ran longer than the Mississippi, Coughlin pledged, would be a thing of the past. "A cancer," the new coach called the surplus of torn ligaments and fractured bones.

 

Healthy, disciplined players — that's what Coughlin promised to deliver for $12 million over four years. So what are Giants executives and fans supposed to think now as their hour of reckoning — an apocalyptic regular season collision with the Cowboys — arrives in such ominous form? What are they supposed to make of Coughlin, the discipline doctor, when his team keeps breaking down in every physical and emotional way?

 

Michael Strahan was only the latest Giant to come up small in a 6-5 season riddled with serious injuries, a 6-5 season that could get Coughlin good and fired. Strahan rightfully ripped Plaxico Burress on the radio for turning a track meet into a country stroll in Nashville Sunday, and then got all hot and bothered when Burress was approached for a response.

 

Strahan lectured reporters on the dos and don'ts of their job, sounding about as silly as the Giants looked in the fourth quarter against the Titans. It was only the latest hint of a team and a season spinning out of control, with Coughlin apparently powerless to do anything about it.

 

Before Strahan opened his mouth, Jeremy Shockey had already stuck a tattooed foot in his own. After the Giants lost at Jacksonville, their second of what would be three consecutive defeats, Shockey told ESPN that the Cowboys had no "chance in hell to beat us when we play our football. And that is the truth."

 

 

This was the same Shockey who announced to the world that Coughlin had been outcoached in a September loss to the Seahawks.

 

Not that the tight end was breaking any new ground. Tiki Barber declared Coughlin had been outcoached by John Fox after last year's playoff loss to Carolina, and basically said the same after this year's loss to Jacksonville, publicly shredding Coughlin for abandoning the running game.

 

The fallout in these matters is always the same. Coughlin calls the offending ripper into his office, the offending ripper retreats (to some degree) from his stance, and the Giants move on until the next star decides to fire away.

 

Meanwhile, Coughlin sends a bad message to his team by allowing Burress to be Burress, by allowing the wide receiver to treat a crucial NFL matchup like a Sunday game of touch. The coach also does himself no favors on the discipline front by acting on the sidelines like Will Ferrell in "Kicking and Screaming."

 

Coughlin has behaved in ways that would make Shockey blush. His amateur-hour reactions to officials' calls are bad enough; his ranting and raving under the nose of rookie Mathias Kiwanuka -- the poor soul who let Young go as the Titans ripped off 24 unanswered fourth-quarter points -- said something more troubling about the coach:

 

He was willing to embarrass a kid while giving a pass to the veteran Burress. Coughlin was also willing to blitz another kid after the Tennessee loss, Eli Manning, who threw the fatal interception.

 

This is one coach who needs a few more trips to the bathroom mirror.

 

Maybe it's too late for that. Coughlin could be on the verge of losing his locker room, and Manning could be on the verge of losing his faith. On the other side Sunday, Bill Parcells and Tony Romo will come in doing a fair impression of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

 

Coughlin is a Parcells guy, a former Giants assistant who still kisses the ring. When Coughlin was rebuilding Boston College, and inspiring talk that he'd someday fill the big job in New York, I asked Parcells for a scouting report on his most loyal disciple.

 

"I think he's a real, real, real good coach," Parcells said then. "Philosophy-wise, we believe in a lot of the same things. I don't mean strategy, but in how to run a team. In fact, I'll tell you, it's very close."

 

Not anymore. Can you imagine Parcells hopping up and down the sideline like some yahoo fan?

 

In his three Giants seasons, Coughlin's been an average coach with an average record -- 23-20, plus one disastrous playoff meltdown. He blew the biggest game of this year by trying a no-shot field-goal attempt against that the Bears that was returned for a historic 108-yard touchdown, and then he presided over an absurd collapse at the hands of mighty Tennessee.

 

Remember the Titans? How can Coughlin ever forget them?

 

Now he gets Parcells and Romo and a last-chance shot to save the season and, perhaps, his job. For a change, Coughlin needs to keep himself and his team under control.

 

It shouldn't be too much to ask of a tough-guy coach.

 

link

 

is it over?

[feefifoefum]

link

 

is it over?

 

God, I hope so... I really think we need a "regime change".

 

 

Bill Cowher???

 

 

Please....

[gateb]

The Giants FO is in love with Coughlin. We're gona stick with him whether we like it or not.

 

Hufnagel and Lewis on the other hand are really really on the hot seat. But TC will be here I beleive next year whether we like it or not.

[njsmalls]

The Giants FO is in love with Coughlin. We're gona stick with him whether we like it or not.

 

Hufnagel and Lewis on the other hand are really really on the hot seat. But TC will be here I beleive next year whether we like it or not.

If Huffabagofdicks and Tim Gutless are gone that's good enough for me. Even now I wouldn't like a whole regime change. If we do...you can throw away 2007.

[US Patriot]

The Giants FO is in love with Coughlin. We're gona stick with him whether we like it or not.

 

Hufnagel and Lewis on the other hand are really really on the hot seat. But TC will be here I beleive next year whether we like it or not.

If Clueless Coughlin is here next year, we can all look forward to a 500 season at best.

[so-cal dub]

Bill Cowher???

Please....

Maybe in 2008, but I doubt 2007. He'll want to kick it first.

 

 

If Tom goes, we'd probably hire some nobody.

[feefifoefum]

The Giants FO is in love with Coughlin. We're gona stick with him whether we like it or not.

 

Hufnagel and Lewis on the other hand are really really on the hot seat. But TC will be here I beleive next year whether we like it or not.

 

:brooding:

 

 

This team has been everything BUT what Coughlin supposedly represents. They are not disciplined. They do not act like a team. Even Coughlin is ripping his players in public now, and he acts like an out of control lunatic on the sidelines. He has made two of the worst coaching decisions I've ever witnessed in the last 3 weeks. The 52 yard FG attempt against the Bears(into the wind!) , and the decision to NOT kick a FG against the Titans. Instead, he decides to go for it on 4th and 4 with his team up 21-0. The irony? He probably lost faith in his kicker in part because he put his kicker in a bad position, trying to kick that impossible 52 yarder into the wind against the Bears.

 

The aftermath??? Now he's probably sucked all the confidence right out of his kicker by deciding not to trust him to kick a shorter FG, in much better conditions, with a 3 TD lead.

[so-cal dub]

:brooding:

This team has been everything BUT what Coughlin supposedly represents. They are not disciplined. They do not act like a team. Even Coughlin is ripping his players in public now, and he acts like an out of control lunatic on the sidelines. He has made two of the worst coaching decisions I've ever witnessed in the last 3 weeks. The 52 yard FG attempt against the Bears(into the wind!) , and the decision to NOT kick a FG against the Titans. Instead, he decides to go for it on 4th and 4 with his team up 21-0. The irony? He probably lost faith in his kicker in part because he put his kicker in a bad position, trying to kick that impossible 52 yarder into the wind against the Bears.

 

The aftermath??? Now he's probably sucked all the confidence right out of his kicker by deciding not to trust him to kick a shorter FG, in much better conditions, with a 3 TD lead.

Gateb is right, the FO does love this yahoo. Clayton from ESPN said he thinks TC may even get an extension after this season.

[feefifoefum]

If Huffabagofdicks and Tim Gutless are gone that's good enough for me. Even now I wouldn't like a whole regime change. If we do...you can throw away 2007.

 

Why? The Giants, and plenty of other teams have had success in the first year of a coaches tenure before. Dan Reeves and Jim Fassell both made the playoffs in their first seasons, I believe.

 

 

Look at the Jets this year, and the Chiefs. Both are in the hunt with first year coaches.

[Herc]

close? too late, he's lost this team, if they play hard it'll be for themselves, not him.

 

and i wouldn't mind jeff fisher

[feefifoefum]

Gateb is right, the FO does love this yahoo. Clayton from ESPN said he thinks TC may even get an extension after this season.

 

The only extension I want him to get is this one...

[feefifoefum]

close? too late, he's lost this team, if they play hard it'll be for themselves, not him.

 

and i wouldn't mind jeff fisher

 

Me either...

[gateb]

:brooding:

This team has been everything BUT what Coughlin supposedly represents. They are not disciplined. They do not act like a team. Even Coughlin is ripping his players in public now, and he acts like an out of control lunatic on the sidelines. He has made two of the worst coaching decisions I've ever witnessed in the last 3 weeks. The 52 yard FG attempt against the Bears(into the wind!) , and the decision to NOT kick a FG against the Titans. Instead, he decides to go for it on 4th and 4 with his team up 21-0. The irony? He probably lost faith in his kicker in part because he put his kicker in a bad position, trying to kick that impossible 52 yarder into the wind against the Bears.

 

The aftermath??? Now he's probably sucked all the confidence right out of his kicker by deciding not to trust him to kick a shorter FG, in much better conditions, with a 3 TD lead.

In TC's fairness, we haven't been disciplined since Parcells left. And Parcells team is the least disciplined in football.

 

I think TC is nothing more than a solid coach. He's not a championship coach, as evidences by his 2 AFCCG appearances than coming up empty.

[feefifoefum]

In TC's fairness, we haven't been disciplined since Parcells left. And Parcells team is the least disciplined in football.

I think TC is nothing more than a solid coach. He's not a championship coach, as evidences by his 2 AFCCG appearances than coming up empty.

 

True but what was the big selling point of Coughlin? "Attention to detail, disciplinarian, General Tom" ... It's not working. Maybe that style just doesn't work in the pros. He should go back to coaching kids he can intimidate in college.

[gateb]

True but what was the big selling point of Coughlin? "Attention to detail, disciplinarian, General Tom" ... It's not working. Maybe that style just doesn't work in the pros. He should go back to coaching kids he can intimidate in college.

His resume he brought with him of being a disciplinarian is what got me excited about him. But Lovie Smith I was pulling for. TC was a close second. Then Crenell. I love defensive minded coaches.

 

Lovie has been awesome for the Bears. He's going to wind up to be a special coach.

[NeMesiS]

I don't know what was more embarrasing for me. Watching Mathias let go of young...Or watching TC act in the manner that he did after the play. I was completely embarrased by that play. And the funny thing is, I honestly don't blame Kiwi for that play. But I blame TC for his....

[Hampton27 missed]

Just be careful what you wish for. A new coach will come in and get rid of a few key players, especially those who opened their mouths to the press or possibly even clean house. I respected TC because he never did a Dan Reeves to this team, which may be the reason why it's still an undisciplined team.

[feefifoefum]

Just be careful what you wish for. A new coach will come in and get rid of a few key players, especially those who opened their mouths to the press or possibly even clean house. I respected TC because he never did a Dan Reeves to this team, which may be the reason why it's still an undisciplined team.

 

Who would the new guy get rid of?

 

Barber opened his mouth... he's retiring.

 

Shockey always opens his mouth... I love Shock, but he's either not being used properly, or he's just not the player we all thought he was in 2002.

 

Strahan opened his mouth... He's old, probably doesn't have much time left, and what coach would get rid of him? He's a fixture here and very popular.

 

Burress opened his mouth... Would anyone really miss him?

 

The Giants are going to whoop the Cowboys this Sunday ... Book it...

[NeMesiS]

Just be careful what you wish for. A new coach will come in and get rid of a few key players, especially those who opened their mouths to the press or possibly even clean house. I respected TC because he never did a Dan Reeves to this team, which may be the reason why it's still an undisciplined team.

 

Isn't that what TC was going to do too?

[NeMesiS]

Who would the new guy get rid of?

 

Barber opened his mouth... he's retiring.

 

Shockey always opens his mouth... I love Shock, but he's either not being used properly, or he's just not the player we all thought he was in 2002.

 

Strahan opened his mouth... He's old, probably doesn't have much time left, and what coach would get rid of him? He's a fixture here and very popular.

 

Burress opened his mouth... Would anyone really miss him?

 

The Giants are going to whoop the Cowboys this Sunday ... Book it...

I don't think its Shockey. He's play good WHEN THEY THROW HIM THE BALL!!!.. I just can't wait when they get rid of Huffnuts. Its too bad Al Saunders went to the Redskins. He would have been awesome with us.