Tom Coughlin has been kept on for at least another year. We can leave it there, play it safe, and accept the decision. As fans, we have little choice. Today, the Giants will talk about staying the course. But let’s get some perspective here- the Giants stunk it up yet again. Did ANY of that smell come from the head coach?
We forecast a 6-10 season. And the Giants finished 6-10. But two factors we did not account for was a positive contribution from Odell Beckham and a negative contribution from a total onslaught of injuries. At some point the injury issue has to be Coughlin’s problem and responsibility. It holds the team back EVERY year. We documented that this is not a sporadic random problem. It is systemic. When people talk about players no longer responding to a coach, and change being needed, maybe 22 players going on IR and the injuries getting worse each year is an outward manifestation of that issue.
I have never believed in tenure. The economic system we work in has no room for it. If I kicked up my heels in 2014 and rested on 2013’s effort, I wouldn’t have a job in 2015. You have to continually produce. I do not have to recite all of the statistics for how the Giants have not beaten teams with winning records, playoff teams, etc.. 5 of the last 6 years this team did not make the playoffs. Not so uncoincidentally, the injury problem has been here for … 6 years.
Tom Coughlin worked very hard in 2014. His dedication is there. No one questions that. With that said, I don’t want to hear about Coughlin’s championships. The results in 2012 were weak, filled with underachievement. Yet Coughlin got the Teflon free pass. The same thing happened in 2013. The blame was put on Gilbride. The same thing happened in 2014. The blame this time is Perry Fewell’s. We keep hearing that Coughlin’s a great coach, but this team keeps underachieving. The injuries keep piling up for 6 consecutive years, as we have documented in the link above. But Strength and Conditioning coach Jerry Palmieri still has a job under Coughlin. The Special Teams woes are an annual affair, with an anecdotal reminder of 3 more gaffes again on Sunday. But Tom Quinn still has a job under Coughlin.
When does Coughlin accept responsibility for keeping these two underachieving assistants? He accepts responsibility for loss after loss, season after season. “It’s on me…. Too many losses,” he says. Too much Coughlin.
As I have tweeted in the past, if there was tenure, we’d all have jobs until we died and Tom Shula would still be coaching the Dolphins. I’m sure Tom Coughlin would like to keep coaching until he’s ready to drop. But that doesn’t make it in the best interests of the team.
Earlier this year, I was asked by a Seattle blogger why the Giants are so inconsistent. My answer, noted here on this NY Giants blog more than a few times, is that Tom Coughlin is as good AND as bad as his coordinators. People quickly forget that in 2006, it was management that forced Coughlin to change, and both the Offensive (Hufnagel) and Defensive (Lewis) Coordinators were fired. If management had not demanded the changes necessary, the Giants would never have brought in Spagnuolo, who architected a great defense and launched Corey Webster’s career from the Lewis ash heap. Gilbride’s new offense was fresh enough to not have his patterned tells. Coughlin started listening to his players, enough so to bring back Strahan for one more year. And Jerry Reese had a great rookie GM draft. You can give credit to Coughlin for 2007. He changed. But do not forget that he didn’t adapt because it was in his DNA. He adapted because he was ordered to or else lose his job.
Since 2007, there has been a lot of underachievement. 2008 was arguably Coughlin’s best year. The Giants had the best OL in the NFL, Burress shot himself, and Gilbride (COUGHLIN) could not adapt the offense with the playcalls needed to respond to Jim Johnson’s pressure. 2009 was an unmitigated disaster with Sheridan. 2010 was a Special Teams disaster with Quinn. 2011 was a 7-7 team of yet more underachievement that went on a 6 game miracle run. Those 6 games have defined the Giants to this day. Not only did they give us a trophy, they also gave us tenure. Reese’s failures of providing one ProBowler in 6 years of drafting combined with negligence at OL sowed the seeds for difficulty. Underachievement continued in 2012, 2013 & 2014. And along the way, the Giants injuries have gotten progressively worse for 6 consecutive seasons. Bottom 50% in last 6 yrs. Bottom 25% in last 4 yrs. Bottom 2 teams in last 2 yrs. Bottom team last season. Bottom team this season. Bottom.
Many people defend Coughlin as a great coach, a Hall of Fame coach. We dispute that because there is so much underachievement, too many pockets of uncompetitiveness and a serial inability to adjust. Hall of Fame coaches leave a legacy of great coaches in their wake. Tom Coughlin’s coaching tree is threadbare. Parcells taught Coughlin plenty about how to win. What has Coughlin taught his assistants? They are all marked by an inability to adapt, learn and grow with an ever-changing league. The two times Coughlin’s staff won titles, change was instigated externally: ownership-mandated in 2007 and Afterburner in 2011. Coughlin allowed those changes each time, so in fairness to him and XLII/XLVI that we celebrate, we always acknowledge his role. But isn’t it symptomatic that Coughlin would have kept Gilbride last year and that he wants to keep his staff now? Everyone is afraid of change, as if to say that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. Yet McAdoo has turned out fine thus far, and Eli is back on track.
Odell Beckham is The Deliver. I cannot contain my excitement for what I see as the single biggest impact player the organization has found since Lawrence Taylor. Harry Carson said it and I wholeheartedly agree. I keep tweeting about it to anyone who will listen- don’t sell OBJ short- the sky’s the limit and it ain’t overhyped.
But Beckham needs 21 other guys to start alongside him. He needs a roster and coaches. He needs Beason, Amukamara and Cruz to be healthy. He can’t do it alone. Lawrence Taylor won 2 titles for this great franchise, but he had Banks and Carson and Simms and Bavaro and a coaching staff that got overachievement from it’s players. Right now the only outlier Coughlin is getting is a record number of players on Injured Reserve.
Odell Beckham saved Coughlin’s and Reese’s jobs. Without OBJ this team is probably 4-12 and totally lacking in hope. Last year we asked for 3 people to be let go: Gilbride, Quinn and Palmieri. Only Gilbride was let go. This year I continue to ask for Quinn and Palmieri to be let go. We can talk all we want about player personnel but when 22 players are on IR what does it matter? The injuries are a systemic problem and Coughlin doesn’t seem to believe that Palmieri is responsible. If not, who? Coughlin, that’s who.
The final point that is that there are hundreds of completely qualified individuals who are ready to be NFL head coaches. Just because the mainstream media doesn’t know who they are doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. They are younger NFL assistants. They are college HCs. They have more energy, and bring new ideas. Chip Kelly was at football powerhouse New Hampshire before getting his break. Ben McAdoo was a coach at Fairfield and Akron before getting assistant opptys in the NFL. The candidates are out there.
I think it is possible for the Giants to win another title under Coughlin, but there must be the right assistants. I also think it is entirely possible for them to win without him. The Giants have needed changes at Special Teams and Strength & Conditioning for a long time now, yet Coughlin has resisted that change. Isn’t it obvious that Coughlin can do better? Isn’t it obvious that the Giants can also do better? When does Coughlin’s accepting responsibility for losing finally mean he truly accepts responsibility for losing? I want to see which assistants are let go. Everyone wants Fewell gone. I want Quinn and Palmieri to exit. Coughlin can do better. The Giants can do better.
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