What they're saying about Giants coach Tom Coughlin
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Tom Coughlin, who returned the Giants to NFL prominence by winning two Super Bowls, resigned Monday. The team missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Here is some of what the football world is saying about the 69-year-old coach who led one of the league's original teams for the past 12 years:
Co-owner John Mara: ''It is difficult to come up with words adequate to describe the appreciation we have for everything Tom Coughlin has done for our franchise. In addition to delivering two Super Bowl titles, Tom represented us with class and dignity, and restored the pride to our entire organization. He has all the qualities you could ever ask for in a head coach, and set very high standards for whoever will succeed him.''
Co-owner Steve Tisch: ''He embodies the beliefs of this organization and everything the New York Giants stand for. I respect his decision, and while I appreciate Tom's perspective and attitude, at the same time, I am a bit saddened today because we are losing a man who is just as good a person as he is a coach. He is a Hall of Famer in every regard.''
Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who also led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles, in an ESPN interview: ''We all know when you're in this business, we have to get off the train some time. And sometimes we get off of our own volition, and other times they ask us to get off. And that's true for players and coaches, owners and everybody who's associated with the NFL. It's a sad day because he's done such a magnificent job there with the Giants. . We've been friends a long time, and I'm sad, but I'm happy because it's a new adventure. Guys like him always make it work.''
General manager Jerry Reese: ''My years with coach Coughlin have been an amazing opportunity to work with one on the best coaches the NFL has seen, and one of the best people that I've met in my lifetime. The GM/coach relationship is of the utmost importance in this business, and I'm grateful for the relationship we had.''
Former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who hired Coughlin in 2004: ''Tom Coughlin is a great coach and an even better man. He has left his mark on this great franchise, and his legacy of excellence is secure.''
Josh Brown, Giants placekicker the past three seasons: ''It has been one of the greatest honors of my life and career to be led by Tom Coughlin; my life will forever be changed.''
Giants center Shaun O'Hara, who played for the team that upset the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl in February 2008: ''He had a saying that as players we really grabbed hold of, and he said when you wear that New York Giant logo and you have it on the field, you come home with your shield or on it. That's the way he coached, that's the way he wanted us to play, and that's always been his mantra: team first, team last, team always. I'll always love him for that.''
Former Giants guard Chris Snee, Coughlin's son-in-law: ''His body of work speaks for itself. He's an incredible coach, just how over the years how he's adjusted and changed. Nobody has changed more than that man to today's athlete. He's the oldest coach in the league, yet all these players respond to him. They love playing for him.''
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