Peter Solari Follow @4PeteSakeNY
The Philadelphia Eagles have completed their interview with ex-Giants coach Tom Coughlin, and sources are reporting that the San Francisco 49ers want to speak him, too. According to Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo, the Giants granted San Francisco permission to speak to their former coach.
It's kind of funny how quickly Coughlin is becoming the hottest available coach. It makes sense, because of all the candidates out there, Coughlin has the strongest resume by a mile. However, he's 70-years old, and while it's not hard to imagine him coaching another three-or-so seasons, beyond that isn't quite as clear.
Coughlin unquestionably has what it takes to lead an NFL team to the promised land, but if the Eagles and 49ers are expecting him to come in, turn their franchises around, and win a Super Bowl before riding off into the sunset, they won't be giving him much of a window to accomplish that. Neither of those teams is going to be a quick turnaround. Neither of them even has a quarterback in place. It's going to take time to create a winning culture, and expecting Coughlin to coach into his late 70's may not be realistic.
None of this is of any concern to the Giants right now. They can't be worried about what Coughlin is doing. They've moved on from him, and San Francisco's interest in Coughlin, could bode well for New York. Yesterday there was speculation that the 49ers were very impressed with Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, and that they could swoop him up before the Giants could even interview him. The expansion of San Francisco's search, should allow the Giants enough time to meet with Jackson.
On a side note, the Coughlin situation is hard to look away from. While the Giants can't afford to be concerned with what Coughlin is doing, that's easier said than done. If Coughlin takes the job in Philadelphia, Big Blue Nation is going to feel it. They already are. Even former Giants, like Justin Tuck, who has been a Raider the past two seasons, advised his former coach not to take the job in Philadelphia.
It should be noted that Coughlin actually spent two seasons as an assistant with the Eagles in the 1980s, before becoming a Giant, but he never meant nearly as much to Philadelphia, as he does to New York.
Coughlin is the embodiment of what it means to be a New York Giant. He's a man that grew up with organization, and has served with them, in multiple capacities, for a very long time. And he'll always be remembered for the two Super Bowl titles he brought to New York.
Yes, he spent the first eight seasons of the Jacksonville Jaguars' existence as their coach, but seeing Coughlin in Eagles' green just wouldn't be right, and it wouldn't be the first time such a scenario arose for the Giants.
Bill Parcells is the most legendary coach in the Giants' storied history. After leading the team to their second Super Bowl championship in 1990, Parcells retired on top. However, it didn't last long, and Parcells eventually un-retired and went on to coach the cross-town New York Jets, and the hated Dallas Cowboys, but even that didn't hurt as much as Coughlin-to-the-Eagles would. Parcells hadn't been a Giant for the better part of a decade when he became the Jets coach, and for more than a decade when he took the Dallas job. Furthermore, he spent four season as the Patriots' coach before going to either of those other teams. While the Giants and their fans may not be fond of them today, when Parcells took the New England job in 1993, the Patriots weren't even on the Giants' radar. They were at the bottom of the NFL, so that didn't have much of an effect on the organization or the fans, but a Coughlin-Eagles marriage would be difficult to bear. It's only been a week since he was a Giant, not seven years.
If nothing else, the Giants' search for a new coach has been exciting. In previous years, when the team's season ended, fans would have nothing to talk about until the Springtime, when the NFL Draft is held. This season, there's news breaking multiple times a day, and it's kept everybody interested. But fans have to ask themselves this one question, then really consider the answer to it. Wouldn't you trade all of this uncertainty surrounding the Giants' future, for the continuity that kept the franchise thriving the past 12 seasons?
