IT WARMS THE START
Coughlin reunion with Eli part of Week 1 intrigue
THEY stood together on those glorious Canyon of Heroes floats, Tom Coughlin hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with a smile that stretched all the way to his Waterloo, N.Y., hometown; Eli Manning with a smile that stretched all the way to New Orleans.
They were The Odd Couple, peas in a Big Blue pod, the General Pattonesque coach and the easy-like-Sunday-morning gentleman quarterback, as Tom Coughlin will be peering down from the press box at his Jaguars, Eli Manning will try to turn back the clock, to a time when no one worried that he was 37 years old.
For Manning, this is a tunnel of love he will be running through Sunday, the only tunnel he has wanted to run through, into the warm embrace of loyal Giants fans who perished the thought they might never see him again in the No. 10 jersey he has worn with honor and pride since Coughlin handed him the keys to the kingdom in the 10th game of the 2004 season.
We all remember Manning’s lower lip quivering in the auditorium the day Coughlin, in that bellowing voice, left the Giants. They had shared a dozen years t ogether, fashioned
Hall of Fa me careers together.
Neither wanted it to end. But after a second straight 6-10 season, it was forced to end. But not before Coughlin peered down at his beloved teary-eyed quarterback and tried to lift his spirits when he assured him: “Eli, It’s not you. It’s not you.” And: “He’s what you want a son to be made out of.”
Coughlin and Doug Marrone resurrected the Jaguars last season and now Manning tries to resurrect the Giants on what may be the 18th hole of a career that wound up in a sand trap last season.
Coughlin quickly built the 1995 Jaguars from a nascent expansion into a Super Bowl contender. So yes, you can go home again. It appeared over for Manning last Christmas. It isn’t over. He has an array of weapons the likes of which he never had with Coughlin. And an unwavering belief in him from John Mara and Steve Tisch to Dave Gettleman to Pat Shurmur to Mike Shula to ... Odell Beckham Jr.
I asked the $95 Million Man what he would tell Giants fans who are worried about Eli Manning being 37 years old.
“I’d tell ’ em that this is gonna be the year that he does what everybody feels like he’s capable of doing and you got the guys around him to do it,” Beckham said. “Now it’s just about him leading us to where he’s been before, and I think we’re all excited about it.”
Can Eli take this team to a Super Bowl?
“It’s time for him,” Beckham told The Post, and smiled. “We’re all ready, we all believe in him, it’s just time for him to do it.”
Coughlin was Beckham’s first NFL coach a decade after he was Manning’s first NFL coach.
“I love Coach Coughlin,” Beckham said. “Hopefully I’ll get a chance to see him. He didn’t slack on us at all, he was always on top of you. But it was like more of a real respect place, more like a wise man, your grandfather, somebody who you respect in a way.”
Manning to this day cherishes his relationship with the coach who raised him from a pup, who guided him through dark days when doubts grew about whether he would grow into the franchise quarterback.
Beckham was asked what he thinks Coughlin means to Manning. “I can only imagine, he was the coach that he came in with,” Beckham said. “It’s gotta mean a lot to him.”
The last t i me Coughlin coached Manning was Jan. 3, 2016, a 35-30 Eagles victory at MetLife Stadium. It is the last time Manning has put up 30 points. Coughlin waved to the crowd as he walked off the field with a crush of cameras chronicling his every move ... after shaking hands at midfield with Eagles interim head coach Pat Shurmur.
“[Coughlin] had a great attitude all week and that attitude is contagious to the players,” Manning said afterwards. “Guys wanted to go out there and play well, play hard and get this win and I thought we had a great effort. Just couldn’t put it together.”
They had a dream run together, delivered two Super Bowl championships to this town. The Giants are no longer Tom Coughlin’s team. But they are very much still Eli Manning’s team. Manning has no time now for Thanks For the Memories. The Giants are expecting him to make new ones, everlasting ones. And his old coach’s team is standing in the way.