Most times, if you miss the playoffs five times in a six-year span, you’re not surviving as an NFL head coach. But when that one playoff trip resulted in your second Super Bowl title, you’ve built up enough goodwill to survive. Tom Coughlin will be back for a 12th season with the New York Giants. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and others reported that Coughlin was assured he’ll stay, which isn’t a surprise considering all recent reports out of New York indicated Coughlin was safe. Even though the Giants had a 6-10 season, Coughlin’s worst since he went 6-10 in his first season with New York, that didn’t matter.  It’s not the wrong choice. The Giants are being prudent and not overreacting to a few down years. Teams feel the pressure to fire coaches if so many games aren’t won or they miss the playoffs so many years without thinking, is the coach we would hire really better than the one we’re firing? Coughlin is a borderline Hall of Fame coach, and the Giants figured that he’ll be better than any other options they’d have. Can Coughlin turn it back around in New York? Having presumptive NFL offensive rookie of the year Odell Beckham back next year, hopefully with a healthy Victor Cruz, will help. The Giants will need to fix a defense that gave up the fourth-most yards in the NFL this season . But Coughlin will be around to see if he can guide that improvement. Even though it’s the NFL way to panic and fire a coach to make a statement, the Giants figured they’d be better off with the guy who has helped them win two titles. – – – – – –

Leave a Reply