My biggest gripe with Coughlin (as a long-time Giants fan) was his refusal to make staff changes earlier in his tenure. It’s remarkable that he won two Super Bowls with Kevin Gilbride as his offensive coordinator. Gilbride advocated a vertical, high-risk passing attack, even when the Giants didn’t have receivers like OBJ. A lot of Eli’s picks were the results of the offensive scheme and the personnel available to execute it.
The Giants offense has improved greatly over the past two seasons, simply because they’ve given Eli more options, with fewer high-risk throws. If Coughlin had made that change earlier, the Giants would have a few more divisional championships, and possibly, another Super Bowl ring. But he’s still a HOF coach; what he did with the expansion Jaguars was nothing short of amazing.
Coughlin has stepped down.
Welcome Sean Payton, to the Big Apple!