Giants’ Coughlin steps down after 12 seasons

New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese speaks during a news conference about Tom Coughlin stepping down as head coach of the team, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in East Rutherford, N.J.

Coughlin, 69, came to the Giants in 2004. You can’t hide from the record.

“I think this year I really had a firm grasp of the offense and what we were doing and on the same page, and I thought we did a good job”, Manning said.

Co-owner John Mara offered a vote of confidence, but also placed Reese firmly on the hot seat. He said he didn’t know for sure, but thinks that his wife will want him out of the house after 48 hours. The last three years are not acceptable.

“Coach Coughlin is always Coach Coughlin”, Pierre-Paul said. “I believe he can do it again”. Anyone that can bring a Super Bowl to a team and its fans is special.

“Eli, it’s not you, it’s not you – it’s us”, Coughlin said to Hubbuch. We’ve had some players we wanted to become staples in our organization that just got hurt.

Coughlin said he contends the higher ground, and greater goal in football was team – winning the right way. Mara was also plenty blunt about the team’s recent personnel failings when speaking during his press conference.

What about all those shots of Coughlin, cheeks alarmingly red, acting like an incensed grandpa on the sidelines? When we win, you guys win.

“We had chances to win a lot of games. It is deserved, and we have to change it around”, said Mara. They all know we are not rash.

“The last couple of drafts have been much more productive”.

The Giants failed to reach the play-offs for the fourth consecutive year. You don’t fall that far on coaching alone. “Winning, losing, playing hard, playing well, doing it for each other, winning the right way is a very very important thing to me and to all of our coaches”.

“I get paid to make decisions”. “I’m never afraid of a challenge”. I got there at 530 and you were there. 5 am…

Reese’s challenge now is to clean up his mess. Nonetheless, his personal impact on his players and the personnel around him is evidence that he was as respected a coach as there is in the NFL. Otherwise, someone else will have to clean up after him.