Spags hopes to ‘restore’ pride
FRANK SINATRA'S “That's Life” blared over the speakers at the start Giants practice on Wednesday with interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo overlooking his team stretching. By the time they broke for drills the music cut off and it was dead silent in the Meadowlands — a change of pace from the short-lived Ben McAdoo era — marking a new day for the 2017 Giants. “I hope to unite, restore and find a way to win football games,” Spanguolo said in a 13-minute press conference. “Restore Giants pride. It's hard to be real prideful when you don't win football games. I think the guys feel that they understand it and we'll function that way.” Spagnuolo is also restoring the Giants starting quarterback, too, going back to Eli Manning. Spagnuolo said his “gut” told him that Manning should be the starter and after a discussion with offensive coaches they reached the decision to play him.
With all these changes, it is clear the Giants are trying to turn — maybe even tear — the page from the McAdoo era, but that certainly isn't Spagnuolo's intent.
In fact, he cannot help but feel some humility in replacing the head coach under these circumstances.
“First thing I want to say and convey is how much respect I have for Ben and what he did here as the head football coach,” Spagnuolo said. “I feel personally, as one of the guys who let him down, that we failed as a team and part of that failure was me. So it's really hard for me to stand here in this position right now.”
Spagnuolo, who said he will remain heavily involved in the defense, said the first practice was good but not great — another deviation from McAdoo, who lauded almost every practice.
“I think we can get better at that,” he said. “We'll try to work at that and it's about getting the football right.”
Spagnuolo also hopes he can incorporate some of the things he learned after his first stint as a head coach with the then St. Louis