Loading ...As the 2006 season drew to a close, many Big Blue faithful were calling for the head of head coach Tom Coughlin. During the initial portion of Tom Coughlin’s tenure as head coach of The New York Giants, his teams were characterized by a multitude of injuries coupled with disastrous finishes.
In 2007, that all changed.
Coughlin’s Giants began the season in embarrassing fashion, surrendering 80 points in the first 2 games of the season. Despite that, Big Blue would eventually gather themselves in time to put together one of the greatest championship runs in sports history.
2008 began with promise, but one of Coughlin’s old demons reared its ugly head again and The Giants collapsed down the stretch.
As for 2009? Well suffice it to say that it was a complete disaster. The receiving corps played well and Eli Manning had a career season, but outside of that there was little to take away from the 2009 season.
This brings me to the question at hand: Is Tom Coughlin part of the solution or part of the problem?
Not to straddle the fence here, but I think the answer lies somewhere in between. Admittedly, Coughlin does have his strong points as a coach, specifically his ability to fix major issues with the team.
After 2006 everyone wondered how in the world The Giants would replace Tiki Barber. In 2007, Brandon Jacobs and The Giants offensive line had incredible years and The Giants boasted one of the strongest rushing attacks in The NFL.
Heading into 2009, everyone questioned the receiving corps and how they would perform. Needless to say, Steve Smith and company were stellar.
Now?
The entire defense seems to be falling apart, and the prospect of hoisting another Lombardi Trophy during the Coughlin era is looking awfully gloomy.
If history tells us anything when it comes to Coughlin, the defense will be okay. Perry Fewell is a great young mind who has done a lot with a little everywhere he has been, especially in pass defense. I think The Giants will record a lot of interceptions this season and the secondary will be a much improved unit.
From an improvement standpoint, Coughlin is a great coach.
That said, Coughlin has his blind spots, particularly when it comes to personnel and creativity.
During the one championship run Thee Giants had, they had an infusion of youth and fresh legs late in the season in the form of Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Steve Smith. Not to mention the contributions of Aaron Ross. Had Shockey and Ward not gotten hurt, these players may never have emerged.
This is not a knock on Ward and Shockey. It’s a knock on Coughlin. Is it not completely obvious that when The Giants used their young players they were successful?
Apparently it isn’t.
From a creative standpoint, Steve Spagnuolo had the best of offensive coaches standing on their head. On offense, the addition of the slippery Smith had defenses wondering what happened to The Eli who played The Vikings back in November.
In both 2008 and 2009, The Giants could have improved by using bodies like Travis Beckum and Clint Sintim.
Can these players get roles in 2010? Can drafted rookies get roles in 2010?
The answers to these questions will hold the fate of the 2010 season. With the usage of young, excited players, The Giants ceiling is very high. Without them, the 2010 season could get ugly.
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I’d like to see somebody put out some “numbers” on other NFL head coaches. You guys constantly put out these same “facts” over and over again as though they are clear evidence that Coughlin sucks, but I haven’t seen you compare those numbers to anybody else.
Where is this huge pool of coaches who are so clearly superior to Coughlin? How come none of them have managed to get their team into the playoffs as consistently as Coughlin? How come none of them have won Superbowls? (yes I know there are a couple…but that’s the point…there are a couple and that’s it).
You think Spags is a much better coach than Coughlin? His numbers didn’t look so good last year. What’s that you say…that doesn’t count because he took over a mess of a team? That’s funny, you don’t seem to discount Coughlin’s 2004 numbers when he took over a mess of a team and played a rookie QB for half the season.
Bottom line…if you’re going to use supposed “statistical analysis” to bash somebody, you better at least back it up by comparing them to others. I suspect that none of you do this because you know that you’re going to be very disappointed to discover how well Coughlin measures up when you do so.
I want to clarify something. I actually don’t like Coughlin all that much I was leaning towards letting him go last season (and I certainly wanted him gone just as much as everybody else after 2006…basically because the team quit on him, which they just did again).
However, the point I am making is that these “stats” that people keep using to bash him are BS. His “stats” are actually pretty good.
I’m with you on wanting a new coach, but that doesn’t validate any of the supposed logic used to bash him above.
jfunk
valid points. I would say this: you can’t expect the average fan to have at his fingertips the kind of data on other teams that he/she has on theirs. we have jobs after all.
seriously though, I noted above TC’s playoff appearance accomplishment and that he was not the worst of coaches. I said instead he was nothing more than mediocre.
the fact that the rest of the league may be populated with mediocre coaches is, to me, no response.
try and find someone who is better than mediocre.
as for Spags, he may end up being a mediocre to poor head coach. time will tell. my point with TC is that he’s had time – 6 years. We know what we have and what we’ll get.
moreover, the fact that Spags may not be a great HC doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great DC.
I contend that he is better than mediocre though. If you actually look at the numbers (and I know it wasn’t you who posted the numbers above…and my post isn’t entirely directed at that post either…the same or similar numbers have been posted many times here by the fire Coughlin crowd), I suspect Coughlin is quite a bit better than “mediocre”.
I really doubt you will find many coaches at all who have taken their team to 4 consecutive playoff births. In fact, one stat I do happen to know is that at the end of the 2008 season, the ONLY OTHER TEAM IN THE NFL to do so was the Colts.
Now, I’m not saying that makes him a better coach than somebody like Bill Belichick, whose streak was only marred by a brutal playoff miss after going 11-5 with a backup QB, but the overall point remains that I think Coughlin’s track record is more likely to be quite above average than it is to be mediocre.
I haven’t done the numbers either, but just try to think of coaches off the top of your head. Can you think of many whose teams are more consistently in the hunt year in and year out?
Again, I’m not trying to argue that Coughlin is awesome…I’m just saying that quoting his track record while bashing him is counter-intuitive because his track record is actually pretty damn good.
I think TC’s approach was just what the doctor ordered…..when he first came here. But, he has proven that inflexability can be a very bad thing.
Especially when it comes to dealing with personnel and being creative or adaptable. As most (Krow) have pointed out, just his attiude toward certian topics (military bearing) will not change, so too does his failure to see past the methodology of running a varied and dynamic offense.
Gilbride can be faulted, but it not all on him. As I’ve pointed out several times (last year) Gilbride likes to throw the ball all over the field. If anything, TC has (IMO) reined Gilbride in. There is value in running the football, and setting up the passing game off of that. However, you do have to break tendencies. That part of the game TC totaly ignores. Perhaps hoping the team can simply out man opponets. Especially on offense with the running game. However, when he is third and short, there seems to be a collective short circuit on what to do.
Rememnber this guy was a reciever coach. Just think about the reciievers he had to work with when his was originally with the Giants. Outside of Bavaro, not a whole lot. He did have some very good one during his time in Jacksonville, but his focus may have been very different as head coach.
That is not excuse for not demanding flexability and adjustment to game conditions. The best teams do that. The Giants seemingly can not.
That is enough by its self to get him axed. But when you add the void between him and his players……..well Rex Ryan he is not.
One other point, as far as the other New York team last year. That was all done with defense. And yes they did back in. But they played defense.
I love what Spiller could do for the team, however he can only do it for two downs. He would instantaly upgrade the return game, but so would Havier Areanes. Spiller in not who we take at 15. Not when this defense is in need at almost every position.
Some of us like Spoon better than McClain. Some would love to have Hayden. I do know and have said, what we need is an impact linebacker, and two early picks in the second round. You can give up a number one pick next year to get that situation. And JR hopefully will do just that.
We need two studs, one to hammer and one to cover.
Two opposing motivations…
1) Dump Coughlin… he’s doe all he can with the team… and that includes a magical Superbowl. But it’s over…
2) Replace him with who? Yeah, it’s not like there’s a stack of great coaches waiting for jobs. It’s easy to say get rid of the guy… but we (me too) always assume we can do better. In the cold light of day I’m not sure we can.
Krow
as to the last point, you can’t keep a mediocre coach because the next guy might turn out to bew not so good.
Who is the replacement candidate? hell if I know.
instinctively, I hate going back to the old boy’s network and dust someone off (i.e., Cowher) whose best days are probably behind him.
I’d rather try to find the next youg innovative mind who will nudge, push or shove the game into a new direction.
I’m assuming in JR’s job to be constantly hunting for that guy, precisely so we are not stuck with a mediocre coach because an upgrade is not apparent.
Negs… I have to disagree. If we can’t upgrade … coach, player, my car, whatever… then I’m not doing it. I don’t want to go from bad to worse. And we’ve had worse.
Now I’m not saying we can’t find that young, innovative mind. But the last one was Sheridan. Just sayin’…
Hired by Coughlin
Just sayin’…
What we really need… is a game-day tactician. That usually falls to the two coordinators… OC and DC. Coughlin/Reese assemble the parts… they build the team. But the OC and DC actually drive it. And last year neither showed that spark of innovation.
On game day no one who played us worried about what they might see. They knew exactly what was coming. Their problem was negating our execution… not anticipating our attack. Simply put, we don’t ever fool anyone.
…….except the fans!
The Giants are like that bad girlfriend you had in college. You loved her… but she was sh’itty to you and treated you like c’rap. It’s not that she fooled you. I mean we know what’s coming…
but why do we expect her to get better? we’ve been to the rack
I just do the analysis… I’m not expecting changes.
I contend that Coughlin is actually better than mediocre. Do I WANT somebody better? Yes. I would prefer a young, exciting new coach as well (as opposed to Cowher, etc.). However, the true question is how much of a problem is Coughlin really and how certain can we be of a replacement being better.
However, there is VERY good logic behind the “but who?” argument right now where this team is. Look, it’s basically a similar argument I have against the Eli bashers…you can WANT a better QB all day long, but do you really want to throw away somebody that we know can get the job done at the most difficult position to fill?
I say no to that…we have a QB who can win, so we need to do everything possible to win NOW while he is in his prime.
Now to take that back to Coughlin, the question is do you really believe that we CAN’T win with him? Is he actually preventing us from winning to the point that you are willing to risk it all gambling on a fresh new coach?
Because here’s the problem: If we replace Coughlin and whiff on our new selection, it will cost us almost the entirety of Eli’s prime. A new coach is going to get 3-4 years minimum to prove himself to the Giants. If he fails, it will be during the best years of Eli’s career. Our core will then be old and we’ll have to rebuild at that point. Will Eli have enough left in the tank to wait another 3 years after that to go for another run? I doubt it, we’d be talking about him playing into his late 30′s.
So that’s really the crux of it to me. Are you willing to gamble the best years of Eli’s career (and on a team that is effectively built to win NOW) on a new coach that is AT LEAST just as likely to be worse than Coughlin as he is to be better than him?
jfunk, what I believe you and Krow are missing is that because you don’t know who the better coach would be, Reese doesn’t know as well. I am assuming/contending that Reese knows or is actively looking. He better be, because if TC turns in a 2009 performance in 2010 he’s gone anyway.
And after all, the question is moot for 2010, he’s our guy next season for sure. But what about 2011-20015?
Do you really want a 66-70 year old Coughlin for the “prime” of Eli’s career?
So what do you do if 1. the Giants are 8-8 or worse in ’10; or 2. win the Super Bowl in ’10?
Either way the prospect of an ever older more rigid and inflexible coughlin does not bode well.
This is why… if it were me… I’d concentrate on surrounding Gramps with quality coaches. Try to repeat 2008… where Spags filled that role. Let TC do what he does best… get the team ready for the season. But on game day prop him up with a glass of prune juice and a copy of the Reader’s Digest… while the kids take old Betsy for a spin.
Also … let me point out… that HC and OC/DC are very very different jobs. One is strategic… the other two are tactical. Often times brilliant coordinators make poor head coaches. It’s not easy finding the next up-and-coming prospect.
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