One Thing...

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/sports/football/05rhoden.html?ref=sports

You need Times Select to read this article. Its main point, which I agree with, is that winning is what is important as an NFL coach, not image. At the moment Eric Mangini is being ortryed as a coach who is in control and never gets too high or too low week to week. If they were losing though, I could see him being perceived as a guy who is not emotional enough and does not motivate his team. Tom Coughlin right now is being perceived as a diciplinarian who drives his team so hard that it has a reverse effect on them. He loses his composure, as does his team. If the Giants were winning though, this would be viewed as playing hard, with him being the guy pushing them as hard as they are playing.

The bottom line is that winning is what matters. If the Giants miss the playoffs Coughlin may lose his job, but if they make them (even at 8-8), he will retain his job. He will also probably get an extention since it is never smart to have a "lame duck" coach in the last year of his contract. Remember that the best coach of our generation (Bill Belicheck) got fired in Cleveland for amongst other things, being surly to the fans and media, being a control freak, and was perceived as a guy who had no compassion and could not relate to his players. Now he is looked at as a legend. Winning can do things like that....

In any event, a couple guys have mentioned to me that Coughlin should be fired. While at this point I disagree, I decided to see what was out there in terms of potential coaching canidates. To be honest, there is not much out there. There is only one guy in either college or the pros that I would both love to have as coach and is somewhat realistic. Start guessing if you want, but I am going to write a post about this canidate tomorrow......Lets just say he ain't in the best of shape...

STKAFI