Coughlin Returns for Immortalization in Ring of Honor

Tom Coughlin (Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports)

After the uncomfortable way the New York Giants parted ways with long time head coach Tom Coughlin, Giants fans were thinking how long it would take for the two sides to come together again. The answer is only 11 months, as the Giants are inducting Coughlin into their Ring of Honor.

Coughlin spent 12 seasons as the head coach of the Giants (2004-2016), turning around a team that was on the wrong side of the standings into two-time Super Bowl Champions. After his second Super Bowl Championship as head coach, the Giants haven’t made it back to the playoffs since. Four seasons after his rise to the top of the NFL, Coughlin resigned as head coach, putting the Giants in unfamiliar territory for 12 years, finding a new head coach.

“…am I missing the sideline,” said Coughlin. “I would be less than honest if I had told you that I didn’t miss the sideline.”

The speculation has been if Coughlin would ever return to coaching. This past offseason, Coughlin went in for interviews for head coaching vacancies with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. However, Coughlin decided that the time was not right and wanted to enjoy retirement.

“As far as the future holds, who knows,” said Coughlin. “I wouldn’t speculate on anything and I will just enjoy very much, this opportunity come Monday night to be at the Giants-Cincinnati game and to have a great number of family and friends around…”

A lot of blame about the unsuccessful seasons from the Giants these past four seasons can not all be put on Coughlin. You can look at Jerry Reese and put the same, or even more blame, depending on your true feelings about him. If you look back at the rosters that the Giants had, over the past four seasons, there were no changes to the roster. Look back at the free agents over the past four seasons that the Giants could have signed that could have improved the team. But nope. The same complacent team, and it showed in the win-loss record. Coughlin seemed as though he was the proverbial fall guy, but let’s move on from this “who’s to blame for the Giants’ lack of success the past four seasons,” topic.

Even after his removal from the Giants, Coughlin still remains in contact with players and coaches. The way he left the team will never take away the relationships that he had with everyone he worked with in the Giants organization.

“That has been something that I have done,” said Coughlin. “I am proud of Ben [McAdoo], proud of the job he is doing, proud of the coaches that I brought there, the players. Someone asked me at the beginning of the season that question about rooting for the Giants and the answer that I gave was an honest answer, I will always root for the Giants.”

Monday Night Football will truly be a sight to see as Coughlin, along with long time defensive end Justin Tuck and former General Manager Ernie Accorsi, as their names are forever immortalized in the Giants Ring of Honor.

“It is a great honor,” said Coughlin. “I am very appreciative of the fact that the New York Giants have chosen to add my family name to the Ring of Honor which is, as I mentioned historically and I do really appreciate history and understand where I came from and so on and so forth.”