Spagnuolo expects Coughlin to right ship

Tom Coughlin losing his grip on the Giants? Not if you heard about what Steve Spagnuolo told his Rams players yesterday morning about what awaits them in Monday night's game against Coughlin's team.

The first words out of Spagnuolo's mouth were about how dangerous this Giants team would be. Not despite Coughlin, but because of him.

"The Giants' organization, and coach Coughlin in particular, are a very resilient group, and in observing them in my past and being there, anytime things don't look great or maybe people think their backs are to the wall, they have always come out and responded to coach Coughlin in how he approaches things and have always come out that next game and been a tough team to play."

Spagnuolo has a history with Coughlin, having been his defensive coordinator during their 2007 Super Bowl championship season as well as the following year. So he has firsthand experience in seeing Coughlin handle adversity, and get his team through it. There was the 0-2 start in 2007, when the Giants were outscored 80-48. And the loss to the Vikings later that year, when Eli Manning threw four interceptions.

The following year, Spagnuolo saw the challenges Coughlin faced in keeping his team together after the Plaxico Burress self-shooting. The incident was a major factor in the team failing to advance past its first playoff game, but Spagnuolo nevertheless was impressed at how Coughlin kept things from becoming completely unglued.

And now this: The injury-ravaged Giants, who have faced a series of preseason ailments the likes of which Coughlin had never experienced, are coming off a 28-14 road loss to the underdog Redskins.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I was certainly [hoping] for them to win last week," Spagnuolo said. "I wanted them the other way. I didn't want them to be upset. I know one thing: The players in that locker room and the coaches on that staff will be ready to play Monday night, and we need to be prepared for that."

Coughlin certainly hasn't gotten much sympathy these days, especially after signing only a one-year contract extension after last year's 10-6 season, in which the Giants failed to make the playoffs after blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead to the Eagles in a 38-31 loss on Dec. 19.

Coughlin came into the season on the hot seat, and despite developments not of his own doing -- the injuries and free-agent defections of several key starters -- he's likely to remain embattled unless and until the Giants make the playoffs.

But if there is one person squarely in Coughlin's corner, it's the man who got his first job as a coordinator from the Giants' coach. Spagnuolo, now in his third season as the Rams' coach, continues to solicit advice from Coughlin, and the two speak regularly.

"Tom Coughlin is one of the premier, elite head football coaches in this league, and anyone that says otherwise is wrong in what they're seeing," Spagnuolo said. "I think he's proven it time and time again. But we're in this business, and we know what it's all about. Tom accepts it, he understands it. But I have no doubt coach Coughlin will fight through whatever is going on right now."

Then again, Spagnuolo hopes there's just a slight delay in that process.

"I hope he doesn't figure it out for one more week," he joked. "But I've got too much respect for Tom, and I believe a lot of other people do, too."

Coughlin appreciated Spagnuolo's kind words, and the Giants coach said he's only too happy to help his former assistant, as long as it doesn't affect game preparations. But it doesn't make things any easier, given his current situation.

"I've faced things like this before, perhaps not to this extent, but we've faced this kind of thing before," Coughlin said of the injuries and free-agent losses. "Really what you're talking about is trying to get a whole lot of people performing at a high level in positions that perhaps two weeks ago, they weren't slated to be there. We're doing that and we're working hard at that. We're going to make progress. We're going to make some progress."

But at some point, that progress will have to translate into victories, because Coughlin knows the drill here. Win games, and you get to keep coaching. Keep losing, and you're shown the door.