Giants Players Still Taking Their Digs at Coughlin
When the New York Giants' training camp began, tailback Tiki Barber said he thought the team's players and Coach Tom Coughlin were drawing together and taking steps toward having a closer relationship.
But if that's true, it hasn't been backed up by recent comments made by tight end Jeremy Shockey and wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Shockey said that Coughlin can be a (paraphrasing here) rear end at times, and Burress said that Coughlin could use to lighten up occasionally and joke around a bit with his players.
Now, it must be noted that Shockey and Burress drew Coughlin's ire during the offseason for skipping the Giants' voluntary workouts in East Rutherford, N.J., so they perhaps are not completely unbiased observers. Shockey's remark came with the disclaimer that a coach has to be a (paraphrasing again) rear end at times.
And Coughlin does seem to have just a bit of a lighter touch this summer. He took Shockey's comments in stride, saying that he'd been called worse, and he has let up on his players during practices when the heat at the team's training camp in Albany, N.Y., has become particularly unbearable.
Even so, the still-lingering resentment that some Giants players seem to have for Coughlin's usually unyielding ways underscores the differences between coaches like Coughlin and Marty Schottenheimer and coaches like Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs.
Coughlin and Schottenheimer have only one gear. They're full speed ahead, almost all the time. If they were baseball pitchers, they'd throw fastballs on every pitch. Parcells and Gibbs, by contrast, know how to mix in some changeups.
Parcells has a tough-guy, disciplinarian image, and many fans tend to look at Gibbs as "St. Joe." But the truth is, they're much closer to one another than that. Parcells knows when to back off and give a player some space--that's why his relationship with Terrell Owens has a far better chance of being a success than most people think--and Gibbs knows when to crack down and make things miserable for people inside Redskins Park. The point is, they adapt to the circumstances. They know what's the right button to push at the right time. And that sense is, in part, why they have five Super Bowl titles between them, to none for Coughlin and Schottenheimer.
By Mark Maske |
August 3, 2006; 10:07 AM ET
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Giants
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Posted by: Brad C | August 3, 2006 12:57 PM
I concur. Where were the Giants before Coughlin took over? They had a laid back coach and a laid back game, NO discipline. Shockey needs to be a true veteran and keep Plaxico in line. Look at the older guys like Strahan and Barber, they haven't said anything and are keeping the spirits up. Its good that Shockey has a chip on his shoulder but he has to channel his energy the right way or he can find himself on the bad side of his coach.
Posted by: Aamir | August 3, 2006 1:28 PM
Just a little FYI - before Coughlin, they had a coach that brought them to the Superbowl. So it's not like they were the Arizona Cardinals before Tommy showed up. They did have success (more than Coughlin has had) with the laid-back approach to coaching
Posted by: doughertypks | August 3, 2006 1:35 PM
More coaches should ask themselves if they were a player, would they like to play for themselves as a coach. If they answered honestly, I think Gibbs and Parcells would say yes. Not sure about Coughlin or Schotty.
Posted by: Burke, VA | August 3, 2006 1:46 PM
The idea that TO and Bill Pacells will get along has as much chance of happening as oil mixing with water. Good luck, Cowboys fans. You're going to need it.
Posted by: penn | August 3, 2006 1:56 PM
How can you consider yourself an "insider" when you post 3 day old news??
Posted by: CAA | August 3, 2006 2:27 PM
If Parcells can handle Keyshawn he can handle TO. At least TO has some skills to go along with his mouth. The main problem for the Cowboys is how is TO going to get along with Drew Bledsoe.
Posted by: Ross | August 3, 2006 3:32 PM
real men know what motivates them and that's winning.. TC maybe a pain in the behind and his methods a little over the top but this giant team, with many of the super bowl players still on the roster, needed a kick in their complacency,,you think Gibbs would had sat down with Portis to EXPLAIN his game strategy if Portis had made a comment like Barber's (actually portis did and joe did'nt)
Posted by: andre_se | August 3, 2006 4:23 PM
Hey Maske, how come you left Bill Cowher out of your comparisons?
Posted by: R M Kraus | August 3, 2006 5:05 PM
Cowher would be another good one. He trends toward the petal-to-the-metal side, but I think he has a lighter touch at times, too. I didn't mean to suggest that Parcells and Gibbs were the only two good, well-rounded coaches out there.
Posted by: Mark Maske | August 4, 2006 8:50 AM
Don't get me wrong, I loved the laid back, player friendly coach Jim Fassel. And he did great early on and building them up to get to the Superbowl. But after getting blown away in that one, the players seemed to have lost their motivation the following year. Luckily management noticed a downward trend and asked Fassel to go so they could bring in someone with more fire and discipline. I admit, TC is over the edge sometimes and I wonder if having Jim Fassel as an assistant would help make him human. Tc has changed though, lets give him credit. Lets hope he continues to mellow out to bring the right blend of discipline with diplomacy.
Posted by: Aamir | August 4, 2006 8:55 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Gibbs and Parcells' ability to cut up with players is probably only a TINY reason why they've won five Super Bowls between them. As far as Coughlin goes . . . I ask Burress and Shockey: would you rather have an easy-going coach or would you rather make the playoffs (like you did last year). If the man's a tyrant, at least he's a tyrant who gets results.
Yes, I know they got creamed in their playoff game last season. But if you'll recall, Tiki Barber said the Giants got outcoached in that game. What was big, bad Coughlin's response? He sat down with Barber after the game, showed him some tape and explained his strategy. Barber seem pleased after that. Does this sound like something a tyrant would do?