Strict Disciplinarian Tom Coughlin Undone by His Own Inability to Follow Rules
After ruling over the Jacksonville Jaguars for two different periods over the last two decades with an iron fist, Tom Coughlin has been ousted due to his own inability to abide by the rules.
Coughlin was fired from his position as executive vice President of football operations by Jaguars owner Shad Khan on Wednesday night, and it was a move Coughlin essentially forced Khan to make.
Nothing changed with Coughlin to lead to his firing. Instead, that was the problem. From Coughlin's first stint with the Jaguars as the team's first head coach from 1995-2002, to his head spent coaching the New York Giants, to serving as Jacksonville's top-ranking executive the last three seasons, he was the same person.
Coughlin demanded several things of not only players, but of his staff and those who worked both with and beneath him. He commanded respect, ordered all to follow strict rules and guidelines set forth by Coughlin himself, and preached accountability and toughness.
Coughlin's micromanaging of every aspect of what the Jaguars have done over the last three years was meant to do one thing: establish control.
There was never any real question who was calling the shots in Jacksonville. Whether it was the coaching staff, the front office or the locker room, everyone inside of TIAA Bank Field knew all roads led back to Coughlin.
That's what makes Coughlin's fall from grace so poetic. The things he not only preached but enforced in an excessive manner, such as discipline and accountability, were things he failed to ultimately adhere to himself.
Coughlin was never going to be with the Jaguars past 2019, but there is a reason he was fired instead of being left to retire on his own terms. Khan had to do it for the future health of his franchise after the NFL Players Association hammed Jacksonville and Coughlin in a statement on Monday, saying Jacksonville had circumvented collected bargaining agreement rules and attempted to force players to go to rehab and injury treatment at Jaguars' facilities in the offseason.
Simply put, Coughlin was breaking the rules when he fined players for not showing up to these treatments. The rules and reading of the CBA are clear: voluntary is voluntary. Once you cross that line and violate player's rights, there isn't any going back.
Coughlin surely didn't do these things to try to instigate his players. He thought by forcing them to adhere to his rules, he was teaching them the discipline required to win football games on Sundays.
But by overstepping the boundaries of the league's labor rules, Coughlin didn't teach discipline. The strict disciplinarian failed to do the one thing he always preached: be disciplined. He tried to come down too hard on the players and it got to the point where the NFLPA was literally telling players to think twice before signing with Jacksonville.
Coughlin spoke often of the mantras of accountability and togetherness -- only a few short weeks ago, he spoke to the local media and said the Jaguars needed to band together and row in the same direction during a disappointing season.
But Coughlin too often failed to live by those mantras through his actions over the last three years. The man who spoke about accountability was often nowhere to be found when the Jaguars were in crisis, such as during the Jalen Ramsey fiasco. Instead, he trotted out head coach Doug Marrone to speak to the media alone each and every time, despite Marrone having zero personnel control outside of game days.
Marrone bore too many of Coughlin's crosses over the years, and it became apparent to anyone watching in 2019 that Marrone himself was sick of cleaning up other's messes. While Coughlin spoke about the team all moving in the same direction, he often alienated members of the roster with his heavy fines for minor offenses. He built a disconnect in the locker room that is almost impossible to win with. Not only were the Jaguars facing other teams each week, they were also fighting their own boss.
Coughlin will absolutely have a legacy in Jacksonville. He helped bring football to the area and built several of the best team's in franchise history.
But ultimately, his swan song will end as one of the more bitter and mistake-filled eras in team history. The man who was so hell-bent on rules and control that he created rifts inside the organization had failed to live by the rules others tried to apply to him.
Ultimately, the ultimate disciplinarian couldn't dare be controlled and live by other's rules. At the end of the day, this is what did Coughlin in and ended his time in Jacksonville.
