Coughlin's Reward for an Incredible Turnaround

Football

By MICHAEL DAVID SMITH
February 21, 2008

As the Giants head to Indianapolis to plot the team's future at the annual NFL scouting combine, a major part of that future is about to fall into place, as head coach Tom Coughlin is expected to sign a four-year contract extension within the next week.

That the Giants will lock in Coughlin as the captain of the ship into the next decade — and that the Giants' players and fans feel good about it — represents the culmination of one of the most stunning turnarounds any coach has ever had.

A year ago, fans were furious that the Giants gave a one-year contract extension to Coughlin, the coach who had a record of 25–25 in three seasons, had never won a playoff game with the Giants and had alienated his players with his dictatorial style. In fact, a year ago at this time, Giants fans were so dispirited by the team's decision to retain Coughlin that many consoled themselves by looking past the 2007 season and saying Coughlin was just a one-year lame duck who would hold the coaching spot open for a big-name savior in 2008.

Fans dreamed of the Giants letting Coughlin go and signing a high-price coach like Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer. Instead the high-price coach the Giants will sign is Coughlin, whose new contract is expected to keep him with the team through the 2011 season and pay him at least $5 million a year — a healthy raise from the $3 million a year he has made in his first four seasons.

He's worth every penny. The 61-year-old Coughlin is an old-school coach, but he proved last season that he can work with modern players. Whereas in the past Coughlin's teams have looked worn down at the end of the year and have sputtered down the stretch, the 2007–08 team was at its best when the games mattered most. That's the hallmark of a well-coached team.

As recently as two months ago, however, few described the Giants as well-coached. Coughlin was facing criticism for the Giants' game-planning and play-calling after Eli Manning threw 52 passes and completed just 18 of them in a loss to the Washington Redskins that dropped the Giants to 9–5. After that game, the Giants appeared to be in danger of missing the playoffs, and if they had, Coughlin likely would have been fired.

But then came the six-game run that culminated in the Super Bowl, a run that was characterized by Coughlin's deft handling of the most scrutinized coaching move of the NFL season: The decision to play the final game, Week 17 against the New England Patriots, as though it mattered, even though in reality the Giants' playoff position had already been determined. By playing all of the Giants' top players for the entire game, Coughlin gave the fans a great night of football and the NFL its most-watched regular-season game in years, and even in defeat, he appeared to give the Giants' players the confidence that would propel them through the playoffs and into their Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots.

But what made it the perfect decision for Coughlin is that he noted both before and after that it was what the players wanted. The control-freak Coughlin of old wouldn't have cared what the players wanted, but Coughlin put himself in the shoes of his players, recognized that football players by their nature are competitive, and tapped into the Giants players' enthusiasm about taking on the undefeated Patriots.

Four weeks later, in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, several of the Giants who had been among the most critical of Coughlin in the past pointed to the way he changed in 2007 as one of the main reasons the team made it to Phoenix. Defensive end Michael Strahan skipped training camp, and wide receiver Plaxico Burress rarely practiced as he hobbled through the season on an injured ankle, and both said Coughlin accepted it because they contributed on Sundays.

Even more important than the way Coughlin relates to veterans like Strahan and Burress is the way he relates to the players who will form the nucleus of his team for the next four years. First and foremost, that means Manning, who will likely be Coughlin's quarterback for the rest of his coaching career. For as strident as Coughlin can act toward his players, he has always cultivated a good relationship with Manning, and Coughlin's contract extension is a positive sign that Manning will build on the success he had in the playoffs.

Coughlin should be able to build on the success he had in the playoffs, too. He hit his stride at the end of his 12th season as an NFL head coach, his coaching staff will remain intact in his 13th season, and the Giants won't have much roster turnover this off-season. Things are looking up for the Giants, and Super Bowl XLII might not be the last one Coughlin wins.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.