Carter Coughlin Eyes Joining One-time High School Teammate Ryan Connelly in Bolstering the Giants' Defense

Coughlin (no relation to Tom) is joining a Giants linebackers unit that includes his one-time high school teammate, Ryan Connelly.

When Giants' seventh-round draft pick Carter Coughlin eventually gets to arrive in East Rutherford, he’ll have at least one tie with a familiar face with roots in the organization’s fabric.

No, not that face. The young linebacker who bears the same surname as two-time Super Bowl-winning former head coach Tom Coughlin is not related to the future Hall of Famer and has never met the elder Coughlin.

But the linebacker is familiar with a teammate who will be in the same meetings with him at the Giants, that being inside linebacker Ryan Connelly, a classmate of his at Eden Prairie High School.

“I got a chance to play with Ryan during my freshman and sophomore year,” Coughlin said. 

“At Eden Prairie High School, Ryan was the starting quarterback, so it’s awesome that he switched over to linebacker; it worked out for him. He texted me on draft day--he gave a rundown on a bunch of stuff, so it’s awesome to connect with him, and I will be able to get some awesome wisdom from him.”

Coughlin is looking to take some of that wisdom from Connelly as well as the coaching from the team’s defensive staff and parlay that into a long and productive career for the Giants.

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The 6-foot-3, 236-pound Coughlin, like the other Giants linebackers, brings versatility to the team. He played the rush position for the University of Minnesota, which he described as a hybrid outside linebacker mixed with defensive end that, “Allowed me to drop into coverage--it allowed me to get after the quarterback, play off tight ends and play near the line of scrimmage.”

That type of versatility resulted in Coughlin finishing his college career with 159 tackles (107 solo), while also finishing fourth all‐time in school history with 40 tackles for loss and third all‐time in school history with 22.5 career sacks.

He also earned numerous postseason awards during his college career, among them Academic All‐Big Ten (2019, 2018, 2017); All‐Big Ten Second Team (2019, 2018); Defensive Trench Award (2019, 2018); the Carl Eller Award ‐ Outstanding Defensive Player (2018); and All‐Big Ten Honorable Mention (2017).

Having been so versatile for the Golden Gophers, Coughlin believes he’ll be able to contribute in multiple ways to the Giants defense.

“Being a Swiss army knife is always useful,” he said. “Whatever position the coaches decide to put me at, I guarantee you I will be able to maximize my potential there. Whether that looks like special teams, whether that looks like a positional fit, I’ll be able to use a lot of the different tools I have been able to build up through college.”

On tape, Coughlin, who has a strong work ethic and whose football IQ is off the charts, shows a good first step and effective hand technique and has converted speed to power. But currently, he doesn’t project as an every-down linebacker, as he will need to bulk up to better survive in run defense and to defend the edge.

With the Giants needing to improve a pass rush that finished 22nd in sacks last season, Coughlin could end up contributing as a situational pass rusher by continuing what he did at college but by also taking deeper dives into the film of his opponents.

“A lot of it is watching film,” he said. “That played out a lot for me in college--identifying what the opposing offensive tackle struggles with, how he moves his feet, how he shoots his hands, whether he leans, all of that kind of stuff.

“I think that transfers even more to the NFL because from what I’ve heard, it’s a whole bunch of film and note-taking, and that’s right up my wheelhouse. I’ll be able to continue to develop those skills of learning and taking notes and watching film and all of that kind of stuff.”