Giants give Tom an extra year
INDIANAPOLIS — Even after last year’s nightmare season, Tom Coughlin always wanted to keep coaching the Giants, and John Mara and Jerry Reese always wanted him to keep coaching.
And now, that can happen for two more years. Coughlin has agreed to a one-year extension, he said Friday, a deal that will carry him through the 2015 season. The NFL’s oldest coach and the Giants front office agreed to terms earlier this week, although some paperwork must still be filed to finalize things. Coughlin has coached the Giants for 10 seasons.
“I had great confidence that it would happen,” Coughlin said at the NFL scouting combine. “And it did.” Coughlin had signed a three-year, $20 million extension after Super Bowl XLVI, a deal set to expire in 2014. According to an NFL source, his one-year extension is for a similar salary; he will make around $7 million in 2015.
To Coughlin, there was never a question about his future in East Rutherford. The Giants got off to a nightmarish 0-6 start last season, heading to a 7-9 finish, Coughlin’s first losing campaign since 2004, and that set off a chain reaction of staff changes that included the retirement of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, a longtime Coughlin aide.
But through it all, Coughlin, 67, staunchly maintained that he wanted to return for more than a year, and team co-owner Mara expressed full faith in his two-time Super Bowl-winning coach. Traditionally, the Giants have avoided uncertainty, never forcing a head coach to work into the final years of his contract. Late last month, Mara promised to meet with Coughlin.
“The Giants have always done that,” Coughlin said of his one-year extension. “That was always indicated to me. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to be honest with you. We had a whole lot of work going on in our business and in our building.”
The staff makeover is done now, and Coughlin admitted that it was “very difficult.” Gilbride and two other longtime assistants — running backs coach Jerald Ingram and tight end guru Mike Pope — all departed, leaving the old coach surrounded by a new cast of characters.
The key figure in the Giant reinvention remains new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, the ex-Packers QB coach tasked with replacing an attack that Mara called “broken.” Coughlin said that McAdoo would have “final say” on play-calling, although he promised to be heavily involved in the offense.
“I’m involved very much in it,” he said. “As are all the coaches. Everyone has their abilities and makes strong contributions. Ben will have the final say on that end, and of course play-calling, but I’ll be very much involved.”
Coughlin added that the new Giant offense might see “subtle” differences. But it would remain focused on the ground game, Coughlin said, and there would be great emphasis on “ball security issues being first and foremost.”
The biggest key will be the rehabilitation of Eli Manning, who threw a career-worst 27 interceptions last season. But Coughlin fully expects Manning to return to form.
“We’re very confident that Eli will, with the help of others around him, with the help of his coaches and the help of his teammates, will return to the high stature that we hold him in,” Coughlin said.
Elements of the Giants’ vertical passing attack may return, too.
“He, interesting enough, does not describe himself as West Coast,” Coughlin said of McAdoo. “He thinks more in terms of the ball going vertical and down the field.” Coughlin will be ready. “I basically . . . have the chance to challenge myself with new learning,” he said, “which is good for me and for all of us.”