The 2011 season solidified Tom Coughlin’s standing as one of the finest and most successful coaches in NFL history.
The Giants finished 9-7 and won the NFC East championship before winning four postseason games, including their second Super Bowl in five seasons, a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. Coughlin improved to 2-0 in Super Bowls as a head coach. He is the 13th coach to win multiple Super Bowls and is one of 18 coaches with a perfect Super Bowl record.
In 16 seasons as an NFL head coach, Coughlin is 142-114 (.557) in the regular season and 12-7 (.632) in the postseason for an overall record of 154-121 (.560). The 142 regular season victories tie him with new St. Louis Coach Jeff Fisher for 19th place on the all-time list. Coughlin’s 154 total victories tie him with Hall of Famer Marv Levy for 17th on the NFL’s career list. Coughlin has led the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Giants to five division titles and nine playoff berths.
Coughlin is also one of the very best coaches in the Giants’ 88-year history. The 2012 season is Coughlin’s ninth with the Giants, making him the second-longest tenured coach in franchise history. Only Hall of Fame Coach Steve Owen, who reigned for 24 seasons from 1930-53, led the team for a longer time period.
Coughlin’s 74 regular season Giants victories are the third-highest total among head coaches in team history, behind only Owen (153) and Bill Parcells (77). His eight Giants postseason victories tie him with Parcells for the franchise record. Coughlin has led the Giants to two NFC East titles and five playoff berths in eight years.
In 2011, Coughlin reached a number of impressive coaching milestones. His 12 postseason victories tie him with former Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher for the sixth-highest total in NFL history:
Coaches Postseason Victories:
20: Tom Landry
19: Don Shula
17: Bill Belichick, Joe Gibbs
16: Chuck Noll
13: Mike Holmgren
12: Tom Coughlin, Bill Cowher
Coughlin and Bill Belichick are the only two active coaches on the list.
The 2011 Giants emulated the 2007 championship team by winning two road postseason games, the NFC Divisional Playoff in Green Bay and the conference championship game in San Francisco. Coughlin has nine postseason victories away from home - seven on the road and two neutral site Super Bowls. Seven of those nine victories were with the Giants in 2007 and 2011. The Giants have won seven consecutive postseason games away from home (five on the road, two neutral sites). Both streaks – five consecutive on the road, seven in a row away from home – are NFL postseason records. Coughlin’s seven career road playoff victories tie Hall of Famer Tom Landry for the most in NFL history. Coughlin is 7-4 on the road in the playoffs (5-1 with the Giants). Landry was 7-7.
Coughlin is 7-3 in postseason games against teams he faced in the regular season, including victories over 2011 foes Green Bay, San Francisco and New England.
Coughlin was 65 years, 158 days old when Super Bowl XLVI was played on Feb. 5, making him the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl and the second-oldest to guide his team to the title game. Buffalo’s Marv Levy was 68 years old when he coached the last of his four Super Bowls in January 1993. Coughlin is also the fourth-oldest coach to win a Super Bowl as a result of his team’s Super Bowl XLII victory.
Oldest head coaches to win a Super Bowl:
Name Team Super Bowl Years Days
Tom Coughlin Giants XLVI 65 158
Dick Vermeil St. Louis XXXIV 63 92
Weeb Ewbank Jets III 61 251
Tom Coughlin Giants XLII 61 156
Coughlin improved to 2-2 in conference championship games, including 2-0 with the Giants.
The 2011 Giants gained a franchise-record 6,161 yards. The former mark of 6,085 was set in 2010. Those are the only two 6,000-yard seasons in Giants history.
The Giants shattered their franchise record with 4,734 net passing yards. The former mark of 4,019 was set in 2009. Those are the only two 4,000-yard passing seasons in Giants history. In 2011, the Giants also set a team record with 359 pass completions and had at least 200 passing yards in every game for the first time in their history.
Last year, the Giants won five regular season games in which they trailed in the fourth quarter, tying the franchise record they set in 2002. They tied Denver and Cincinnati for the NFL’s second-highest total. Arizona led the league with six.
In the last six seasons, the Giants’ regular season records have been 11-5, 8-8, 10-6, 12-4, 8-8, 10-6 and 9-7. Their six-year streak without a losing record is the Giants’ longest since they had 10 in a row from 1954-63.
Coughlin first ascended to the pinnacle of his profession in the 2007 season when he led the Giants to a victory in Super Bowl XLII. The Giants, heavy underdogs entering the game, scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat the previously-undefeated New England Patriots, 17-14. In 2011, the Giants won their fourth Lombardi Trophy, and second under Coughlin, with an unexpected late-season run. A loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18 left the Giants with a 7-7 record. It was their last defeat of the season. Six days later, the Giants defeated the Jets, 29-14. A week later, they crushed Dallas, 31-14, to clinch the NFC East title, their eighth division championship since the 1970 merger. The Giants then defeated Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco to advance to Super Bowl XLVI, where they found a familiar foe in New England, a team they had defeated three months earlier. This time, the Giants scored with 57 seconds remaining and held off a late Patriots charge to win, 21-17.
Coughlin’s 142 regular season victories place him tied with Fisher for third among current NFL head coaches, behind New England’s Bill Belichick (175) and Washington’s Mike Shanahan. (157). Coughlin is the only one of those four coaches to have coached an expansion team. With 154 total victories, Coughlin is third among active coaches, behind Belichick (192) and Shanahan (165).
Coughlin is one of just six active coaches to lead a team to a Super Bowl victory. The others are Belichick, Shanahan, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, New Orleans’ Sean Payton and Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy. Coughlin, Belichick and Payton are former Giants assistant coaches. Payton will miss the entire 2012 season while serving an NFL suspension.
The two championship seasons, division titles, postseason berths, and streak of seven seasons at .500 or better are successes in a Giants revival that began when Coughlin was named the 16th head coach in franchise history on Jan. 6, 2004. The Giants won only four games in the season prior to his arrival. A longtime successful head coach on the collegiate level and in the NFL, Coughlin was the wide receivers coach of the Giants when they won Super Bowl XXV in 1990. When he returned to the team as head coach, Coughlin quickly put the team back on a path that would ultimately lead to two more Super Bowl victories.
The Giants improved from four to six to 11 victories and the NFC East title in Coughlin’s first two seasons with the team. In 2006, they went 8-8 and earned an NFC Wild Card playoff berth. The following season, the Giants were 10-6 in the regular season and again reached postseason play as a Wild Card, which served as a springboard to the team’s Super Bowl victory. In 2008, they were again one of the NFL’s very best teams at 12-4 and reached the playoffs for the first time following a Super Bowl appearance. Two years later, the Giants were only the sixth double-digit victory team to fall short of the postseason since the NFL’s realignment in 2002. Last season, they had one less regular season victory, a fact long forgotten when Coughlin held the Lombardi Trophy on the podium in the center of Lucas Oil Field on Feb. 5.
Coughlin twice led the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game prior to leading the Giants to victories in two NFC Championship Games. He is one of just six coaches to lead teams to a championship game in each conference since the 1970 merger. The others are Parcells and Dan Reeves (both former Giants coaches), as well as Chuck Knox, Jon Gruden and Tony Dungy.
The 2011 Giants were unique Super Bowl champions. They were the first team to win the title after a) losing seven games in the regular season; b) losing four consecutive games in the regular season; c) finishing with a negative scoring differential (394-400) in the regular season, and d) finishing last in the NFL in rushing in the regular season. They did so thanks to the resilience, toughness and tenacity that has been the hallmarks of Coughlin-coached teams. In their four postseason victories, the Giants defeated 10-6 Atlanta, 15-1 Green Bay, 13-3 San Francisco and 13-3 New England to become the first team to beat four teams in the playoffs with better regular season records. The Giants are the first team to twice win four games in a single postseason (doing it in 2007 and 2011).
Coughlin’s 2007 team also set several milestone achievements on their way to the NFL championship. The Giants became the fifth Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl, the second in three years (the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL) and the first from the NFC (the Green Bay Packers joined the list in 2010). They were the second team to win the Super Bowl after winning three postseason games on the road to get there (again joining the 2005 Steelers and again followed three years later by the Packers). The No. 5 Giants were then the lowest-seeded NFC team to win the Super Bowl since the NFL began seeding teams in 1990 (Green Bay was seeded sixth in 2010). Prior to the Giants’ victory, a second seed was the previous low NFC team to win a Super Bowl. The 2007 Giants were just the third team to win the Super Bowl after starting the season 0-2. The others were the 1993 Dallas Cowboys and the 2001 Patriots.
Perhaps the most impressive characteristic of that title team was its ability to win on the road. The Giants won 10 consecutive games as visitors (seven regular season, three postseason), an NFL single-season record. They were the visiting team in the Super Bowl, which was their 11th consecutive triumph away from Giants Stadium. The Giants won their first 2008 road game, at St. Louis, to extend their road winning streak to 11 games, which tied them with three other teams for the second-longest such streak in NFL history. They achieved much of that success with 11 rookies on their 2007 active roster, a record for a Super Bowl winner.
After their 0-2 start in 2007, the Giants won six consecutive games to become just the fifth team in history and the second since 1947 to follow two opening losses with six straight triumphs. The last of those victories was over the Miami Dolphins in London’s Wembley Stadium, which made the Giants the first team to win a regular season game outside of North America.
In 2008, Coughlin led the Giants to the NFC East championship with a 12-4 record. The 12 victories were their highest total since the 2000 NFC champions won 12 games. It was the eighth time in franchise history and the sixth time since the merger that the Giants finished a season with at least 12 victories. The Giants advanced to postseason play for the fourth consecutive season, the first time they accomplished that feat in their history.
Coughlin also led the Jaguars to four consecutive postseason berths (1996-99) and is one of only three coaches in NFL history to accomplish that feat with two different teams. The others are Marty Schottenheimer (Cleveland, 1985-88 and Kansas City, 1990-95) and Mike Holmgren (Green Bay, 1993-98 and Seattle 2003-07).
Under Coughlin, the Giants routinely establish franchise statistical milestones. In 2011, the Giants finished eighth in the NFL in yards per game (385.1), the fourth consecutive season and the fifth time in Coughlin’s tenure they have were eighth or better. The Giants were fifth in the NFL with a franchise-record 295.9 passing yards a game, their highest ranking since they finished fifth in 1984. In 2010, they finished in the top 10 in the NFL’s offensive and defensive rankings. The Giants were fifth on offense with an average of 380.3 yards a game and seventh in defense, allowing an average of 310.8 yards per game. They gained a then franchise-record 6,085 yards, the first 6,000-yard season in their history. The previous record was 5,884 yards in 1985. The Giants scored 48 touchdowns, which was tied for the third-highest total in team history. Their 331 first downs were the third-highest total in franchise history – a total they matched in 2011. The team’s 62.9 completion percentage was a team record, besting the 62.4 percentage set in 2009. The Giants and Indianapolis Colts allowed an NFL-low 16 sacks in 2010. That was easily the fewest sacks allowed by the Giants since the 16-game season was instituted in 1978. Their previous low total was 24 sacks allowed in 2002. The Giants did not allow a sack in a franchise-record five consecutive games (Nov. 7-Dec. 5).
Defensively, the 2011 Giants allowed only an average of 14 points in four postseason games, significantly below the 25 points a game given up in the regular season. In 2010, the Giants allowed 347 points, 80 fewer than they gave up the previous season. The Giants finished the season with 46 sacks, their highest total since the 2007 Super Bowl champions led the NFL with 53. The Giants held their opponents to an NFL-best 31.7 success rate on third down conversion attempts (66 of 208).
In 2009, the Giants scored 402 points after scoring 425 the previous year, the first time in franchise history they scored at least 400 points in consecutive seasons. The Giants gained 5,856 yards, then the second-highest total in franchise history. The Giants set a team record with 4,019 net passing yards, the first 4,000-yard season in team history.
From Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, 2009, the Giants won consecutive road games in Dallas, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. They are one of just nine of the 123 teams (7.3 percent) that have played at least three consecutive road games since 1990 to win every game. Both the Giants and Coughlin are on the list twice. The Giants swept a three-game trip in 1994, when they traveled to Houston, Washington and Cleveland on successive weeks. Coughlin’s 2001 Jacksonville Jaguars also won three road games in three weeks. Of course, Coughlin’s 2007 Giants won three straight road playoff games on the way to Super Bowl XLII.
The 2008 Giants established several milestones and records. The Giants had two more victories than they finished with the previous year to become the fifth defending Super Bowl champion to win more games the season following a championship than they did on their way to winning the Lombardi Trophy (not counting the strike-shortened 1982 season). The Giants were the first defending Super Bowl champion in 10 years – and only the fourth overall – to earn a top seed in the postseason a year after winning the championship game (since seeding began in 1990). Green Bay last season became the fifth team to accomplish the feat – and the Packers promptly lost to the Giants.
Coughlin has always stressed the importance of limiting turnovers. His career turnover differential is plus-47 in the regular season and plus-eight in the postseason. In 2008, the Giants set what was then an NFL record (tied by the Miami Dolphins) by coughing up the ball only 13 times in 16 games (New England established a new mark with just 10 turnovers in 2010). The Giants and Dolphins were the seventh and eighth teams to average less than one turnover a game over a 16-game season. Coughlin has coached two of the teams, the 2002 Jaguars and the 2008 Giants, and was an assistant on another (the 1990 Giants).
The Jaguars’ turnover differential during Coughlin’s eight-year tenure was plus-34. In seven seasons under Coughlin, the Giants are plus-13, including an NFC-best plus-nine in 2008, when the Giants lost only three fumbles all year.
The 2008 Giants rushed for NFL-leading and franchise record numbers of 2,518 yards and 5.0 yards per carry. The previous records were 2,451 yards in 1985 and 4.7 yards an attempt in 2005 and 2006. The Giants’ run offense finished seventh or better in the league every season from 2005-2008, the first time since 1990-93 that they were in the NFL’s top 10 four years in a row. The Giants finished the season with 427 points and 338 first downs, both the second-highest totals in franchise history. They scored 448 points in 1963 and had 356 first downs in 1985.
Three years after setting the franchise rushing mark, the Giants struggled to run the ball. So the 2011 Giants became the best passing team in franchise history with their average of 295.9 yards a game. Eli Manning’s 4,933 passing yards were the sixth-highest total in NFL history and Victor Cruz (1,536) and Hakeem Nicks (1,192) became the first pair of 1,000-yard receivers in the same season in Giants history.
Under Coughlin, the Giants are 54-10 when leading at halftime, 57-6 when leading after the third quarter, 58-25 when they rush for at least 100 yards, 43-13 when holding the opposition to less than 100 yards on the ground and 36-9 when the turnover differential is to their advantage.
Under Coughlin the Giants have averaged 390.5 points per season and had three of the franchise’s four 400-point seasons in his first eight years. The Giants averaged 285.6 points a year in the three seasons prior to Coughlin’s arrival.
In 2011, the Giants scored 47 touchdowns – one less than they had in 2010, which was their highest total since the 1985 team scored 48. Last year, Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for nine touchdowns and Cruz tied him for the team lead with nine receiving scores. The prevous season, Nicks caught 11 touchdown passes and Mario Manningham added nine as they became the first pair of Giants with at least nine touchdown catches since 1967, when Homer Jones had a franchise-record 13 and Aaron Thomas had nine. In addition, Brandon Jacobs rushed for nine touchdowns and Bradshaw eight, the first time the Giants had two backs run for at least eight scores in the same season.
The Giants scored 46 touchdowns in 2009 when Steve Smith (7), Nicks (6), Manningham (5) and Kevin Boss (5) all had at least five touchdown receptions. It was the first time the Giants have had four different receivers with at least five touchdown catches apiece since 1963, when five players reached that total: Del Shofner (9), Frank Gifford (7), Joe Morrison (7), Joe Walton (6) and Phil King (5). The Giants scored 45 touchdowns in both 2005 and 2008. In the first of those seasons, they were only the fifth team in NFL history to have five different players score at least seven touchdowns. Tiki Barber scored 11, and Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Brandon Jacobs scored seven apiece. The Giants’ 5,787 total yards that season were then the third-most in team history and their offense ranked fourth in the NFL with an average of 361.7 yards a game. It was the team’s highest ranking since 1972, when the offense also ranked fourth with an average of 320.2 yards a game
Defensively, the Giants have ranked in the top seven in three of the last five seasons (seventh in 2007, fifth in 2008 and seventh in 2010). When they allowed 292.0 yards a game and were ranked fifth in total defense in 2008, it was their highest ranking since 2000, when they were also fifth. The 292 yards per game were the fewest allowed by the Giants since 2000, when they gave up 284.1. Last year the Giants had 48 sacks – 16.5 by Jason Pierre-Paul – their highest total since the 2007 champions had 53
The Giants have also had several special teams standouts under Coughlin. In 2011, Lawrence Tynes’ 43 extra points without a miss tied for the third-highest single-season total in Giants history. Pat Summerall made all 46 of his PATs in 1961 and Tynes hit 45 in 2009. Tynes has made a team-record 158 consecutive extra points since missing one vs. San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2007. Punter Steve Weatherford’s 45.7-yard gross average was the second-highest single-season average in Giants history, surpassed only by Don Chandler’s 46.-6-yard average in 1969 (minimum 35 punts).
In 2009, Tynes was fifth in the NFL in scoring with a career-high 126 points, the fourth-highest total by a kicker in Giants history. The previous season, three Giants special teams player played in the Pro Bowl – punter Jeff Feagles, kicker John Carney and longsnapper Zak DeOssie. Feagles, who was 42 in 2008, finished the season with a gross average of 44.0 yards and a net average of 40.2 yards on 64 punts. The net average was a career high. His previous best net average was 38.2 yards in 1995, his first Pro Bowl season. Feagles’ gross average tied for the second-highest of his career and is just three-tenths of a yard less than the career best of 44.3 yards he set with Arizona in 1997. He averaged 44.0 yards the following year. Carney scored a career-high 143 points, the second-highest figure in Giants history and just five less than Jay Feely’s record of 148 in 2005. Carney kicked 35 field goals in 38 attempts, a .921 percentage that was the best in Giants history. Two of his three misses were blocked.
The year before Coughlin arrived, the Giants averaged only 19.9 yards a kickoff return. In 2004, they led the NFL in kickoff return yardage for the first time since 1953 with an average return of 25.1 yards. In 2005, their average kickoff return dropped by less than a yard, to 24.3 yards, which was good for fourth in the NFL. The Giants allowed only 140 punt return yards the entire 2008 season, when opposing teams averaged 5.8 yards on punt returns, the third-best figure in the NFL.
Many Giants players have enjoyed outstanding seasons in the Coughlin era. In 2011, Manning set franchise records with 359 completions and 4,933 yards. Manning has thrown for at least 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in seven consecutive seasons, the fifth-longest such streak in NFL history. In 2011, Manning was the first NFL quarterback to throw at least four touchdown passes of at least 72 yards since Kurt Warner of St. Louis in 2000 (six). He was the first Giants quarterback to do it since Earl Morrall threw four in 1965. In 2010, Manning threw 31 touchdown passes, the third-highest total in Giants history and the most by a Giants quarterback in 47 years. Y.A. Tittle threw 36 in 1963 and 33 in 1962. Manning threw an NFL-record 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes in 2011. The previous record of 14 was set by Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas in 1959 and tied by Peyton Manning (2002). In the last three years, Manning has thrown for 4,002, 4,021 and 4,933 yards to become the first Giants quarterback with three 4,000-yard seasons.
In 2009, Steve Smith shattered the franchise record with 107 receptions and was the first Giants wide receiver to play in the Pro Bowl since Homer Jones in 1968 (not including David Tyree’s selection as a special teams player in 2005). Last season, Manning and Pierre-Paul were selected to the NFC Pro Bowl team. In 2010, Bradshaw rushed for 1,235 yards, the seventh-highest total in Giants history. Guard Chris Snee, defensive end Justin Tuck, safety Antrel Rolle and DeOssie all played in the Pro Bowl. Center Shaun O’Hara was selected for the third time, but was unable to play because of injury. In 2009, Snee, O’Hara and David Diehl all played in the Pro Bowl, the first time the Giants had three players from the same position group selected to the game since 1962. The previous year, seven Giants played in the Pro Bowl, the team’s largest contingent since the 1990 Super Bowl champions sent seven players to the game.
In Brandon Jacobs (1,089 yards) and Derrick Ward (1,025), the 2008 Giants were just the fourth team in history with two running backs rushing for at least 1,000 yards apiece in the same season. Jacobs was the fourth running back in Giants history to run for at least 1,000 yards in at least two consecutive seasons. He ran for 15 touchdowns in 2008 and was just the second player in Giants history to run for that many scores in a single season.
Prior to joining the Giants, Coughlin coached the Jaguars for eight seasons (1995-2002). He was named the first head coach of the expansion Jaguars on Feb. 21, 1994, 559 days before the franchise played its first regular season game. In 1995, Jacksonville won four games, more than any previous expansion team in NFL history. The following year, Coughlin was named NFL Coach of the Year by United Press International as the Jaguars made the playoffs in just their second season and advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the New England Patriots.
That began a streak of four consecutive playoff seasons for the Jaguars. In both 1997 and ‘98 Jacksonville won 11 games, winning their first division title in 1998. The following season, the Jaguars had an NFL-best record of 14-2 and again advanced to the conference title game.
Under Coughlin, the Jaguars were the most successful expansion team in NFL history. Coughlin compiled a 68-60 regular season record (.531), plus a 4-4 mark in the playoffs, including those two trips to the AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars made the playoffs every year from 1996-99, the only expansion team in history to earn four postseason berths in its first five seasons.
Under Coughlin, the Jaguars were 55-12 in games in which they owned a lead entering the fourth period. The Jaguars were 40-28 in games against division opponents, 21-3 in games in which they scored a touchdown on their initial offensive possession and 51-30 in games in which they rushed for at least 100 yards.
Coughlin quickly established himself as one of the NFL’s finest offensive coaches. During his tenure, the Jaguars led the NFL in both passing yards (4,367 in 1996) and rushing yards (2,091 in 1999). In addition to having the most rushing yards in the NFL in 1999, Jacksonville boasted the league’s leading receiver in Jimmy Smith (116 receptions). The only other team in history to accomplish that double was the 1954 San Francisco 49ers.
Coughlin arrived in Jacksonville following three years as the head coach at Boston College, where he turned a struggling program into a Top 20 team. He was 21-13-1 in three seasons (1991-93) with the Eagles, including 9-3 in 1993, when Boston College won eight consecutive games, defeated top-ranked Notre Dame, 41-39, and beat Virginia in the Carquest Bowl. Coughlin’s last Boston College team was ranked 12th in the USA Today/CNN coaches poll and 13th by the Associated Press, despite starting the season 0-2. The Eagles were 8-2-1 in 1992 and 4-7 in his first season in 1991.
Coughlin, Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks, Chan Gailey of the Buffalo Bills, Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers and Greg Schiano of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only current NFL head coaches with experience as college head coaches.
Coughlin was the Giants wide receivers coach under Parcells from 1988-90. Under his tutelage, receivers such as Mark Ingram, Lionel Manuel, Odessa Turner and Stephen Baker all improved and helped the Giants win their second Super Bowl.
Coughlin began his coaching career in 1969 as a graduate assistant at Syracuse, his alma mater. He was the head coach at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1970-73, compiling a record of 16-15-2. Coughlin returned to Syracuse in 1974, first serving as quarterbacks and offensive backfield coach for three seasons before being promoted to offensive coordinator for four years. He directed an offense that led the Orangemen to victory in the 1979 Independence Bowl, their first postseason triumph in 13 years.
In 1981, Coughlin went to Boston College for the first time, as quarterbacks coach under Jack Bicknell. He helped the Eagles win their first bowl game and coached Doug Flutie, who would win the Heisman Trophy in 1984, one season after Coughlin’s departure. In 1983, Boston College won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as Eastern Champion, its first in 42 years.
Coughlin entered the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receivers coach in 1984 and ‘85. He held the same position with the Green Bay Packers in 1986 and ‘87 before moving to the Giants for a three-year stint.
Coughlin was a standout scholastic star at Waterloo (N.Y.) Central High School, where the football stadium now bears his name. He was a three-year letterman at Syracuse for legendary coach Ben Schwartzwalder from 1965-67. A wingback, Coughlin played in a backfield with All-America backs and Pro Football Hall of Famers Larry Csonka and Floyd Little. As a senior in 1967, Coughlin broke Syracuse’s single-season pass receiving record. That year, he won Syracuse’s Orange Key Award as the university’s outstanding scholar-athlete. He graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in education and received a master’s degree in education the following year.
Thomas Richard Coughlin was born on Aug. 31, 1946 in Waterloo. He is the oldest of seven children. Coughlin and his wife Judy, have two daughters, Keli and Kate; two son-in-laws named Chris; two sons, Brian and Tim; two daughters-in-law, Andrea (Tim’s wife) and Susie (Brian’s wife); and 10 grandchildren: Emma Rose, Dylan, Shea, Cooper, Caroline, Marin, Wesley, Brennon, Clara and Walker.
The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation
The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation was created in honor of Jay McGillis, a very special young man who was a member of Coughlin’s team at Boston College and developed leukemia. The courage, compassion and faith he demonstrated during the course of his illness were an inspiration to many people.
The mission of the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation is to assist children with leukemia, other cancers and specific bone marrow failure syndromes by providing their families emotional and financial support to help reduce the stress associated with treatment and improve their quality of life.
Since its inception in Jacksonville in 1996, the Jay Fund Foundation has donated more than $3.5 million in support to help children and their families. Upon joining the Giants organization in 2004, Coughlin expanded the Jay Fund to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. The foundation hosts several annual fundraising events, including a Wine Tasting Gala and Celebrity Golf Classic Tournament in Jacksonville and Champions for Children Gala in Manhattan. Coach Coughlin and the Jay Fund also regularly host special parties and events for pediatric oncology patients and other ill children in partnership with other non-profit organizations.
For more information on the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, please visit www.tcjayfund.org.
