New York Giants wise to keep Tom Coughlin

The New York Giants ended 2014 at 6-10, the second consecutive year they’ve finished under .500. While the team obviously has a litany of problems they need to fix, they were wise to realize head coach Tom Coughlin is not one of those glaring issues.

Although Coughlin is the oldest coach in the NFL, he still has a good amount to offer the organization. Also, I don’t really think the Giants would ever flat-out fire a head coach that won them two Super Bowls. If anything, Coughlin’s inner-circle would’ve told him to retire. However, here we are in the first Tuesday of the offseason and Coughlin is still the head coach.

The Giants’ performance down the stretch was a big factor in Coughlin’s return.

The fact that Coughlin’s team didn’t quit on him likely helped his case, but it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise to see the Giants fight until the final whistle of week 17. Coughlin does a great job connecting with his players and creating a good environment. It’s ironic, because Coughlin’s personality was one of the things Giants players despised when he first arrived from Jacksonville. Coughlin underwent a change of character prior to the 2007 season.

Yes, the Giants were a subpar team this year, but Coughlin does not deserve all of the blame. In fact, Coughlin wasn’t to blame for last year’s debacle either. The Giants led the league in players placed on injury reserve, and New York lost a bevy of key players. The way Coughlin was able to make sure his players were still playing at a high level was impressive to say the least.

Jon Beason was one of those aforementioned injured players, and he spoke to the media about his head coach. “You go through a seven-game losing streak like we did, it becomes quite tough to keep guys motivated,” Beason said, per NY Daily News. “And that’s what Coughlin does. He’s the best motivator I’ve ever been around in terms of a coach.”

Coughlin knows what it takes to win in this league, and his team is trending in the right way. The Giants were probably the most exciting 6-10 team in recent memory, and they have a lot of young, promising players on the roster. Odell Beckham Jr. has been remarkable, Rueben Randle finally seems like he’s living up to his potential and Victor Cruz‘s return next year will make this offensive incredibly dangerous. This team is only a few improvements away from being a legitimate contender.

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While I don’t think Coughlin should remain the head coach for too much longer, bringing him back for at least next year, which is the final year of his contract, is absolutely the right decision to make. Although there are certainly good head coaching candidates available, none of the top-tier names have had the success Coughlin has had with the Giants. Furthermore, bringing in a new head coach could also bring in a new offensive system, which would axiomatically disrupt the rhythm of the offense. It took Eli Manning and the rest of the unit the entire preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season to click, so another switch, even a slight one, could be a negative.

Speaking of the new offense, the general idea is that the Giants want offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo as their next head coach, but the 37-year-old McAdoo probably isn’t ready for that type of role yet. If New York truly envisions McAdoo as its next head coach, Coughlin is the perfect guy for McAdoo to learn under. What better guy to learn from than a coach whose won two Super Bowls? McAdoo can be groomed under Coughlin until the team believes he’s ready to take over the reigns as head coach. And worst case scenario, McAdoo gets one more year to learn under what will likely be a future Hall of Fame coach.

Even at 68-years-old, Coughlin is still motivating his players and he’s still capable of coaching a team to a championship.

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