So, SB Nation New York Jets writer Joe Caporoso thinks I rallied the troops at Big Blue View to vote for New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin in the TC vs. Rex Ryan as coach poll we are running. Well, truth is that I did. I also, however, notified our friends at Gang Green Nation of the poll to give them an opportunity to send Jets fans over to vote for Rex.
Joe, of course, defended Ryan and chose him over Coughlin, saying in part he is “banking on his potential to truly become one of the elite head coaches in the league.”
Well, that is where I need to pick up the argument for Coughlin. With 15 seasons, a Super Bowl title, 15 playoff victories and six division championships to his credit Coughlin, 64, ALREADY IS one of the NFL’s elite head coaches.
I am not giving Coughlin a pass for the late-season meltdowns suffered by the Giants the past two seasons. I don’t think most of the Giants’ fan base does, either. I am also aware of the comments by Giants’ safeties Antrel Rolle and Kenny Phillips that they would like playing for a coach like Ryan.
Given a choice between the proven and the possible, though, I am taking the proven. I believe Ryan has done a great job with the Jets, changing the losing attitude that surrounded the franchise. Until Ryan proves that he can ACTUALLY DO what Coughlin has already done, not just talk about it, I am sticking with the Giants head coach.
There is also the not-so-small matter of how each coach represents his franchise. Coughlin has always been a class act, a great representative for the league and for both the Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars when he coached them. Can you say the same for Ryan? Without going into the litany of off-the-field nonsense that surrounded the Jets a year ago, let’s just say I think not. The coach was at the center of most of it.
Should that stuff matter when judging a coach? That is an individual decision. It matters to me because I care not only about winning, but I care about the way the franchise I root for is perceived. It’s just another reason why I prefer Coughlin to Ryan.