Tom Coughlin

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Tom Coughlin
Date of birth	August 31, 1947
Place of birth	Waterloo, New York
Position(s)	Head coach
College	Syracuse University
Career Record	91-79-0
Coaching Stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1965-1967 1969 1970-1973 1974-1980 1981-1983 1984-1985 1986-1987 1988-1990 1991-1993 1995-2002 2004-present	Syracuse University Syracuse University RIT Syracuse University Boston College Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers New York Giants Boston College Jacksonville Jaguars New York Giants

For information on the former Wal-Mart executive, see Tom Coughlin (Wal-Mart).

Tom Coughlin (born August 31, 1947 in Waterloo, New York) is an NFL head coach for the New York Giants. He was also the inaugural head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was head football coach at Boston College before moving to the pros. His son-in-law, Chris Snee, currently plays for him on the Giants.

Contents 1 Early Career 2 Boston College 3 Jacksonville Jaguars 4 New York Giants 5 Coaching Style

[edit] Early Career

After he graduated from Waterloo High School, Coughlin attended Syracuse University where he played wingback and was teammates with Larry Csonka and Floyd Little. In 1967, he set the school's single-season pass receiving record. His first head coaching job was at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1970-1973. After his success there, he returned to his alma mater where he was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator, a position he also held at Boston College where he coached Doug Flutie. He left the collegiate level to become a wide receivers coach in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, and later the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. While at New York he was an assistant to Bill Parcells, and helped the Giants win Super Bowl XXV.

[edit] Boston College

After the 1990 season, Coughlin returned to Boston College to take on his first job as a head coach. In three seasons at BC, he turned the program into a consistent winner. Coughlin's tenure was capped with a 41-39 victory over #1 ranked Notre Dame who BC has beaten in 5 straight games.

[edit] Jacksonville Jaguars

Coughlin's success at BC led to his subsequent hiring as the first head coach of the NFL's expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. In 8 seasons at Jacksonville, he helmed the most successful expansion team in league history, leading the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game twice, the first time being only the second year of the team's existence, 1996, where he lost to Bill Parcells and the New England Patriots, but was named NFL Coach of the Year by United Press International. Coughlin would again take the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game in 1999 after a 14-2 regular season before the Jags were bested by Tennessee Titans, the team that had beaten them twice in the regular season, and the only team to beat them all year.

Coughlin compiled a 68-60 regular season record and a 4-4 playoff record in 8 seasons as the Jaguars head coach, but his remarkable early success eventually gave way to a disappointing final three seasons in Jacksonville. After a 6-10 finish in 2002, the Jaguars fired Coughlin.

[edit] New York Giants

After being out of football in 2003, Couglin was named the 16th head coach of the New York Giants on January 6, 2004.

Coughlin inherited a team that finished 4-12 in 2003, but led the Giants to a surprising 5-2 start in his first season as head coach. After back-to-back losses in which veteran quarterback Kurt Warner struggled left the Giants at 5-4, Coughlin made the decision to bench Warner and start New York's highly touted first round draft pick, rookie Eli Manning. Coughlin received criticism from some who felt the move amounted to a surrender of the 2004 season when the Giants were still in playoff contention. The Giants would go on to lose six of the seven games started by Manning, who struggled in his rookie season.

Coughlin's early move to Manning, though, would pay dividends in 2005, as Manning and the Giants went 11-5 in Coughlin's second season and won the NFC East for the first time since 2000. It was also the Giants first postseason performance since making it as a Wild Card in 2002. However, a very poor performance by Manning and the defense saw the Giants get shut out 23-0 at the hands of the Carolina Panthers at Giants Stadium. Following the game, Giant star running back Tiki Barber called out Coughlin and his offensive coordinator, partially because a Panthers player said that "We knew what they were going to do before they did it." The two resolved their differences however.

Heading into the 2006 season, expectations for the Giants were high. In just over two years as the Giants head coach, Coughlin has transformed the Giants from an underachieving, last place team into a possible Super Bowl contender. The Giants were struggling early going 1-2, which prompted Jeremy Shockey to say after the loss to Seattle that "we got out played, AND out coached." The Giants followed up by winning their next five games (including wins over division rivals Washington and Dallas) to go 6-2.

However, the Giants lost two straight games. After the second loss (to Coughlin's former team, Jacksonville), Tiki Barber once again called out the coaches. But it got worse. The next week against the Titans, the Giants blew a 21 point lead in the last quarter and lost to the Titans by a score of 24-21.

One of the most noticeable improvements under Coughlin has been the elimination of star running back Tiki Barber's case of "fumbleitis", which Barber credits Coach Coughlin with curing after Coughlin recommended that Barber keep his elbow in and hold the ball higher. Barber fumbled 14 times between 2001 and 2003. Since Coughlin's arrival, he's fumbled only four times. Barber has also seen his production increase significantly, setting career highs in rushing and total yards each year under Coughlin.

The Giants also seem to have gotten more out of their draft selections and free agent signings since Coughlin's arrival.

[edit] Coaching Style

Coughlin was mentored by Bill Parcells, when he spent time as Wide Receivers Coach on the Giants, along with many other assistants who are currently Head Coaches in the NFL., and the two are close friends who face off in the NFC East. Recently Coughlin has gotten the upperhand, going 4-2 versus Parcells since he was hired by the Giants.

Like his mentor, Coughlin is known as a stern disciplinarian and his meticulous attention to detail. He is also known to place a high value on punctuality, as clocks in the Giants meeting rooms are set five minutes ahead and players are fined and/or benched for arriving "late". More recently in the 2006 season, Coughlin has been criticized on numerous occasions for not being to control the opinions and actions of his players.

Preceded by Jim Fassel	New York Giants Head Coaches January 6, 2004–present	Succeeded by Current coach
Preceded by First coach	Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coaches 1995–2002	Succeeded by Jack Del Rio

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coaches
Coughlin • Del Rio

New York Giants Head Coaches
Folwell • Alexander • Potteiger • Andrews • Friedman • Owen • Howell • Sherman • Webster • Arnsparger • McVay • Perkins • Parcells • Handley • Reeves • Fassel • Coughlin

Boston College Eagles Head Football Coaches
Drum • Nagle • Lawless • Carney • Dunlop • White • Reilly • Kenney • McCarthy • Hart • Courtney • Joy • Mahoney • Brickley • Morrissey • Cavanaugh • Daley • McKenney • McNamara • Downes • Dobie • Leahy • Myers • Sarno • Myers • Holovak • Hefferle • Miller • Yukica • Chlebek • Bicknell • Coughlin • Henning • O’Brien

Current National Football League head coaches
Belichick • Billick • Childress • Coughlin • Cowher • Crennel • Del Rio • Dungy • Edwards • Fisher • Fox • Gibbs • Green • Gruden • Holmgren • Jauron • Kubiak • Lewis • Linehan • Mangini • McCarthy • Marinelli • Mora • Nolan • Parcells • Payton • Reid • Saban • Schottenheimer • Shanahan • Shell • Smith