Tom Coughlin

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Tom Coughlin
Date of birth	August 31, 1947 (age 59)
Place of birth	Waterloo, New York
Position(s)	Head coach
College	Syracuse
Career Record	93-83-0 (Regular Season) 4-6 (Postseason) 97-89-0 (Overall)
Coaching Stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching Stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1969 1970-1973 1974-1975 1976-1980 1981-1983 1984-1985 1986-1987 1988-1990 1991-1993 1995-2002 2004-present	Syracuse University (graduate assistant) Rochester Institute of Technology (head coach) Syracuse University (quarterbacks coach) Syracuse University (offensive coordinator) Boston College (quarterbacks coach) Philadelphia Eagles (quarterbacks coach) Green Bay Packers (quarterbacks coach) New York Giants (wide receivers coach) Boston College (head coach) Jacksonville Jaguars (head coach) New York Giants (head coach)

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 Coaching career 2.1 Boston college 2.2 Jacksonville Jaguars 2.3 New York Giants 2.4 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] Coaching career

[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, Coughlin 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 transformed the Giants from an underachieving, last place team into a possible Super Bowl contender. 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. During his time with Coughlin, he only fumbled four times. Barber has also seen his production increase significantly, setting career highs in rushing and total yards each year under Coughlin.

The Giants struggled early during the 2006 campaign, going 1-2 in their first three games. After a particularly bad loss to the Seattle Seahawks, star tight end Jeremy Shockey stated that the Giants had been "outplayed and outcoached." The Giants rebounded by winning their next five games to go 6-2. However, the Giants suffered a stunning second half collapse, losing 6 of their next 7 games to fall to 7-8 heading into the last game of the season. After a late November loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Coughlin and his coaching staff were once again criticized by a player, this time Tiki Barber. Things took another turn for the worse the next week when the Giants blew a 21 point fourth quarter lead and lost to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 24-21.

Numerous injuries, excessive penalties, and a high number of turnovers--all three being problems that Coughlin promised to fix when hired as Giants head coach coach in 2004--have been most responsible for the downward spiral of the 2006 Giants, fueling speculation that Coughlin's job could be in jeopardy. However, the Giants rebounded with a victory in the season's final game at the Washington Redskins, all but securing a playoff berth and perhaps saving Coughlin's job in the process.

Coughlin and the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-20, in the first round of the playoffs. On January 10, 2007, it was announced that Coughlin would receive a one-year extension on his current contract and would remain as the Giants' head coach in 2007.

[edit] Coaching Style

Coughlin was mentored by Bill Parcells, when he spent time as Wide Receivers Coach on the New York Football Giants, along with many other assistants who are currently Head Coaches in the NFL, and the two are close friends who recently faced off several times in the NFC East while Parcells coached the Dallas Cowboys. Coughlin won the upperhand in those games, going 4-2 versus Parcells since he was hired by the Giants. Like his mentor, Coughlin is known as a stern disciplinarian and for his meticulous attention to detail.

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

Current Head Coaches of the National Football League
American Football Conference
East	North	South	West
Jauron (Buffalo)	Billick (Baltimore)	Kubiak (Houston)	Shanahan (Denver)
Cameron (Miami)	Lewis (Cincinnati)	Dungy (Indianapolis)	Edwards (Kansas City)
Belichick (New England)	Crennel (Cleveland)	Del Rio (Jacksonville)	Kiffin (Oakland)
Mangini (NY Jets)	Tomlin (Pittsburgh)	Fisher (Tennessee)	Turner (San Diego)
National Football Conference
East	North	South	West
Phillips (Dallas)	Smith (Chicago)	Petrino (Atlanta)	Whisenhunt (Arizona)
Coughlin (NY Giants)	Marinelli (Detroit)	Fox (Carolina)	Linehan (St. Louis)
Reid (Philadelphia)	McCarthy (Green Bay)	Payton (New Orleans)	Nolan (San Francisco)
Gibbs (Washington)	Childress (Minnesota)	Gruden (Tampa Bay)	Holmgren (Seattle)