When Coughlin Turned Down the Giants
Tom Coughlin’s contract extension was expected. (It’s also to be expected that some fans will call for him to be fired if he goes 6-10 next season.)
But the beginning of this quotation from the team president, John Mara, was a little surprising on Wednesday:
“I wanted Tom as our head coach going all the way back to the early ‘90s. So it was with great confidence that Ernie Accorsi and I recommended to my father and Bob Tisch in 2004 that we hire Tom. Of course, my father didn’t need to be convinced. He saw what we have all seen, a man who has a singular focus and incredible dedication when it comes to his work. In so many ways, Tom represents to me who and what the head coach of our franchise should be.”
Here’s the background on the Giants’ failed recruitment of Coughlin, after the disappointment of the Ray Handley years, via an article by The Daily News in February.
The first call following the 1992 season went to Boston College head coach Tom Coughlin, a Giants assistant from 1988-90.
“No,” he said. The Giants were shocked.
Coughlin had great respect for the Giants, but he said he had unfinished business as a college coach. The next year, he felt he had reached a goal — turning around Boston College with a victory over Notre Dame. He wound up with the expansion job in Jacksonville. The Giants wound up with the Dan Reeves and Jim Fassel eras.
Did he ever think he would get a second chance? “No, that wasn’t any thought that I had,” he said. “Staying at BC was an easy decision at the time,” Coughlin said.
“He had success in Jacksonville. I never thought we would ever have an opportunity to get him,” Mara said.
This article was written by TONI MONKOVIC and appeared in fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com.
Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football
on 11:40 a. m..
Filed under