Tuesday Michael Strahan expressed his admiration for New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin, and how his thoughts on the coach changed over the years.
Today, Coughlin reciprocated.
Well, really what happens – to put it in very few words here – is you start out a certain way, you establish who you are – this is a game about toughness, this is where it starts – and you hope as it evolves in your leadership, the players that have been with you for a while can then go and share those values and those ingredients with the young people that come in and it just builds to the point where the players understand what this is all about. What I would like to be remembered for obviously is winning and I would like to think that we have an influence on the lives of these young men and that is very important to me, obviously," Coughlin said.
“I saw (Patriots RB) Fred Taylor (who played for TC in Jacksonville) earlier this year when we played New England and he said basically something along those lines – ‘I understand more now’ – that kind of thing and it does give you a strong sense of gratification or satisfaction and there’s no doubt that it eliminates all the in-between and makes you closer to the player.”
You have to say this much for Coughlin. Like him or not, you have to admit that he is sincere in how much he cares about the people and players he works with.