“He did a great job and definitely has not failed. I feel that we as players failed him by not playing to the level we could.’’ Eli Manning

These were the words of a tearing Elli Manning hours before the resignation of Coach Coughlin. It was a bittersweet moment for the team and their longtime coach as they parted ways on Monday.

Coach Coughlin has been known for his football toughness expertise that has enabled his team to come this far.
Born on August 31st 1946, Coach Tom Coughlin replaced Jim Fassel as head coach to serve New York Giants for twelve seasons between 2004 and 1015.

He was always known as Colonel Coughlin for his stern football mind. He once fined two players for being two and not at least five minutes early as per his new team regulations. He taught the players the importance of football mental toughness and would applaud rookies who used the skills.

With the football confidence that he instilled in the team, he was able to lead the giants to five wins in their first seven games.

At this time, the player Warner had been struggling and Coughlin saw it wise to replace him with Manning with whom he came to develop a special rapport with through their time together.

This led to harsh criticism on the coach as the team’s losing streak lasted eight games before Manning defeated the Dallas Cowboys in their last game of the season. At this time, he taught the team mental preparation football as he was a strict disciplinarian.

Coughlin also influenced other players such as Tiki Barber who had fumbling problems. He taught Barber how to grip the ball and reduced the player’s fumbles from nineteen to one in the 2005 season.

He struggled with the Giants in early 2006 losing to the Sea Hawks. The period between 2007 and 2008 went well for the coach. In January 2008, their win against Green Bay Packers set up the coach’s first appearance as Super Bowl head coach.

In the same year, President Bush invited the team to White House to honor their winning Super Bowl XLII and the coach won a four-year contract to coach the giants through to 2011. This deal made him way up among the best paid football coaches.

In 2012, he led his team to win against the defending champions Green Bay Packers. He went on to win against Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI and he became the oldest coach winning Super Bowl. This further shows that his knowledge of a strong mental game in football worked in the team’s favor. He signed an extension to 2014 with the giants.

His team did not make it to play offs in the 2012 season and 2013 season begun on a low note too.

This led to an announcement by John Mara, Giants co-owner that his time may be limited with the team. However, he managed to get an extension to 2015 and has since struggled with the team amidst growing criticism.

Sadly, he resigned on January 4 2016 citing that he strongly believed it was the right time for him to step down. Coughlin will go down in history as one of the best NFL coaches and will be remembered for making his player better men on and off the field..

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