NY Giants Made the Right Decision to Retain Head Coach Tom Coughlin

Despite finishing with a 6-10 record, one game worse than their 2013 mark, the New York Giants will reportedly announce that head coach Tom Coughlin will be retained as the team’s head coach, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com.

“I’m very pleased; he’s been my only coach,” quarterback Eli Manning told reporters when asked for a reaction to the reports of Coughlin’s pending return.

Coughlin’s return is good news for a Giants team that this year, despite the record and despite the 22 players who landed on season-ending injured reserve, has begun building something exciting, something that could start to fall into place as soon as next year.

Starting with the offense, which this season showed marked improvement from its 28th overall ranking last year, Coughlin’s willingness to gamble on Ben McAdoo and the West Coast offense proved to be just what the doctor ordered.

“Offensively, we made great strides from the beginning of the year where a lot of things were different,” Manning said.

“If we can come back and start where we are right now and continue to make progress, I think we’re just kind of scratching the surface of where we can get to.”

Speaking of McAdoo, who at least outside of the organization is believed to be the successor to Coughlin as head coach, there was little chance he was going to be ready for such a big step up in rank after just one year on the job as a play-caller.

Had the Giants relieved Coughlin of his duties, chances are they would have had to part ways with McAdoo—a coach the organization is said to like—as well because the Giants aren’t in the habit of forcing new head coaches to accept staff carried over from the previous regime.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

In keeping Coughlin for at least another year, the Giants have set themselves up for a smooth transition that could take place as soon as next season if Coughlin can get the Giants back on track and if he decides he has had enough.

Defensively, things weren’t as productive; though to be fair to defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, his unit was hit hard by injuries.

That group included corners Prince Amukamara, Walter Thurmond and Trumaine McBride, linebackers Jacquian Williams and Jon Beason and defensive ends Robert Ayers and Mathias Kiwanuka, who were all lost for the season while cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, linebacker Devon Kennard and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins gutted out injuries that affected their play.

If the Giants decide to make a change at defensive coordinator, Coughlin—who successfully oversaw the transition of the offense to a new system that helped quarterback Eli Manning reach career highs in completion percentage (63.1), completions (379) and touchdowns (30)—has proved he can do the same for the defensive side of the ball.

That’s what happened in 2007, when he fired then-coordinator Tim Lewis and hired Steve Spagnuolo, who had never been an NFL defensive coordinator, to run the team’s defense. 

Spagnuolo helped contribute to the first of two Super Bowl championships under Coughlin in 2007.

Perhaps, though, one of Coughlin’s biggest strengths is his ability to demand and get the best of his players, regardless of whether they are rookies or seasoned veterans.

“I think his intent is asking guys to mature: to understand responsibility, discipline and what’s required to do this job because it’s a rare opportunity,” kicker Josh Brown told reporters.

“If people don’t understand that and what it takes, you can get lost in the other things this job gives you, but the job has to come first.”

Players who understood that signing an NFL contract doesn’t bring any guarantees of playing included rookies such as running back Orleans Darkwa, defensive end Kerry Wynn, linebacker Devon Kennard, offensive lineman Weston Richburg, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and safety Nat Berhe, all of whom are part of the team’s foundation moving forward.

Even older veterans started to understand Coughlin’s simple message about playing for the names on the front and back of the jersey, such as receiver Rueben Randle—who was twice disciplined by Coughlin late in the year—tight end Larry Donnell and linebacker Jacquian Williams.

“He’s consistent. He’s the same with everyone and is a guy you can rely on,” said Beason. “He’s really in the fight with us. He’s working just as hard and can do everything he possibly can and I think that’s something he can learn from.”

Coughlin is also stubborn—but not necessarily in a bad way.

The head coach refuses to give up when the chips are down, such as what he did when the team was stuck in a seven-game losing streak this season.

Rather than let the locker room splinter, he kept his players together and focused. And while they emerged from that tailspin too late to save the season, the team got a taste of what it could become if it followed Coughlin’s plea to pay attention to the details. 

“You go through a seven game losing streak like we did and it becomes tough to motivate guys,” Beason said. “He’s the best motivator I’ve ever been around as a coach. Guys didn’t fold; we kept fighting and we tried to make a bad situation a little bit better.”

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

“He’s a stand-up man,” added linebacker Jameel McClain. “He’s 100 percent who he is. To come in and be motivated and bring inspiration to people day in and day out—I love that and I’ll play for that kind of man any day because honesty is what this league should be based out of.”

Is Coughlin perfect? No one is—and he will be the first to admit that he isn’t perfect.

Over the years, however, he has grown as a coach to where he has made some concessions in how he does things, such as allowing a medley of upbeat music to be played every Friday as the players warm up for practice, a suggestion brought to him by his veteran leadership council.

He also found a way to better connect with his players, such as when they come out for pregame warm-ups and Coughlin makes his way up and down the rows of stretching and flexing bodies to shake each man’s hand and wish him a good game. 

While all of this is well and good, some will rightfully argue that it doesn’t ease the sting of a 6-10 record and a failure to make the playoffs three years in a row.

Certainly the facts are what they are, but McClain perhaps summed it up best when he spoke of the main lesson to come from this season, a lesson that those players who return in 2015 plan to carry over to any new teammates who come walking in the door.

“When I first game here, people loved the game, but professionalism wasn’t at the top of everyone’s priority list,” McClain said.

“As the season went on you saw professionalism—you saw rookies that understood and you saw veterans who did stuff they didn’t do before.

“It’s amazing. The growth of this team is amazing. I’m excited to get started again because we know this growth is so good that it’s only the top you can reach.”

Thanks to the continued presence of a head coach and his “crazy” rules about being five minutes early for team meetings or looking like polished young professionals during team road trips, that lesson could very well be what puts the Giants back into the thick of things come next December.  

Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and The Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.