Super Bowl 2012: Tom Coughlin's Legacy Takes Giant Step With Thrilling Win

From being on the hot seat to the championship podium, it’s been one heck of a year for New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin.

He devised a stellar game plan that limited Tom Brady and kept his own offense balanced. After his team’s 21-17 win, Coughlin is now a two-time world champion and the oldest coach to ever win the big game at the age of 65.

Coughlin’s team resembled the man himself. They were mentally tough, gritty, smart, decisive and well prepared. He showed his team the right way to handle their business on and off the field and all 53 guys clearly responded wonderfully.

Who would have ever guessed that Coughlin’s Giants would be here after losing to the Washington Redskins for the second time to lower their record to 7-7? The team looked closer to folding than making the incredible run they ended up pulling off.

However, when your team is coached by Coughlin, the second-guessing isn’t there. He kept everybody on the same page and never panicked. It was his calm demeanor that kept everybody grounded.

Remember the second-to-last game of the regular season, when New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was talking trash to the Giants? Coughlin could have easily fired back with a sound bite of his own. Instead, he took the high road and said the team of New York would be decided on the field.

This is the moment that perfectly summed Coughlin up. He doesn’t have the ego of a guy like Ryan, he doesn’t let all of the other stuff around him become a distraction; he lets his team's play on the field do the talking.

He isn’t interested in being famous and promoting other products, he has a genuine passion for the game that he learned from his mentor Bill Parcells. In a world of millionaire ego’s spiraling out of control, sometimes the most effective coaching method is simply telling it like it is. No coddling.

Coughlin doesn’t coddle.

Congrats, Tom Coughlin, you are now a deserving member of the Hall of Fame.