New York Giants

Long regarded as one of the NFL’s premier head coaches, Tom Coughlin reached the pinnacle of his profession in the 2007 season when he led the Giants to a victory in Super Bowl XLII. The Giants, heavy underdogs entering the game, scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat the previously-undefeated New England Patriots, 17-14.

The championship season capped a Giants revival that began when Coughlin was named the 16th head coach in franchise history on Jan. 6, 2004. The Giants won only four games in the season before his arrival. A successful head coach in the NFL and on the collegiate level, Coughlin was an assistant coach with the Giants when they won Super Bowl XXV in 1990. He quickly put the team back on a path that would ultimately lead to another Super Bowl victory.

The Giants improved from four to six to 11 victories and the NFC East title in Coughlin’s first two seasons with the team.

Coughlin twice led the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game prior to leading the Giants to victory in the 2007 NFC Championship Game. He is the sixth coach to lead teams to a championship game in each conference since the 1970 merger. The others include Parcells and Dan Reeves (both former Giants coaches), as well as Chuck Knox, Dungy and Gruden.

The 2007 Giants set several milestone achievements on their way to the NFL championship. The Giants became the fifth Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl, the second in three years (the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL) and the first from the NFC. They were the second team to win the Super Bowl after winning three postseason games on the road to get there (again joining the 2005 Steelers). The No. 5 Giants were the lowest-seeded NFC team to win the Super Bowl since the NFL began seeding teams in 1990.

Coughlin previously coached the Jacksonville Jaguars, taking charge of the expansion franchise more than 18 months prior to its first game and guiding the team for its first eight seasons. Under Coughlin, the Jaguars were the most successful expansion team in NFL history. Coughlin compiled a 68-60 regular season record (.531), plus a 4-4 mark in the playoffs, and twice took Jacksonville to the AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars made the playoffs every year from 1996-99, the only expansion team in history to earn four postseason berths in its first five seasons.

Under Coughlin, the Jaguars compiled several impressive statistical records. Jacksonville was 55-12 in games in which it owned a lead entering the fourth period. The Jaguars were 40-28 in games against division opponents, 21-3 in games in which they scored a touchdown on their initial offensive possession and 51-30 in games in which they rushed for at least 100 yards.

Coughlin became the first head coach of the expansion Jaguars on Feb. 21, 1994, 559 days before the franchise played its first regular season game. In 1995, Jacksonville won four games, more than any previous expansion team in NFL history. The following year, Coughlin was named NFL Coach of the Year by United Press International as the Jaguars made the playoffs in just their second season and advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the New England Patriots.

That began a streak of four consecutive playoff seasons for the Jaguars. In both 1997 and ‘98 Jacksonville won 11 games, winning their first division title in 1998. The following season, the Jaguars had an NFL-best record of 14-2 and again advanced to the conference title game.

Coughlin arrived in Jacksonville following three years as the head coach at Boston College, where he turned a struggling program into a Top 20 team. He was 21-13-1 in three seasons (1991-93) with the Eagles, including 9-3 in 1993, when Boston College won eight consecutive games, defeated top-ranked Notre Dame, 41-39, and beat Virginia in the Carquest Bowl. Coughlin’s last Boston College team was ranked 12th in the USA Today/CNN coaches poll and 13th by the Associated Press, despite starting the season 0-2. The Eagles were 8-2-1 in 1992 and 4-7 in his first season in 1991.

Coughlin was the Giants wide receivers coach under Parcells from 1988-90. Under his tutelage, receivers such as Mark Ingram, Lionel Manuel, Odessa Turner and Stephen Baker all improved and helped the Giants win their second Super Bowl.

Coughlin began his coaching career in 1969 as a graduate assistant at Syracuse, his alma mater.

Thomas Richard Coughlin was born on Aug. 31, 1946 in Waterloo.