Coughlin plans on sticking around for a while
New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin talking to the media on the day players cleaned out their lockers. (January 4, 2010) Credit: Conrad Williams Jr.
Besides asking about Kenny Phillips and Osi Umenyiora (more on him in a moment), I also asked Tom Coughlin about his own personal plans for coaching. Like it or not, when a coach gets to a certain point in his life and career, the questions about retirement start popping up. I’m not the first to pop it up and I won’t be the last.
But Coughlin said he hasn’t given retirement any thought at all.
“My energy level and my conviction and my commitment are as strong going into this camp as they’ve ever been,” he said. “The Good Lord blessed me at this point in time with very good health and so I look forward to this camp just as I looked forward to camps in other years. I’m really not paying any attention to age or anything of that nature. I look forward to having an opportunity to coach again.”
At some point he’ll likely have to take a look at it. He’ll be 64 at the end of August and after this year he’ll have one more season left on his contract with the Giants. Will he start looking at things and make decisions on a yearly basis like some other coaches (and Vikings quarterbacks) often say they do?
“Every team is different, every year is a brand new year, every situation is brand new,” he said. “You have to take them one at a time and that’s the approach I’ve always taken. This is the most important year. This is where our energy goes. This is how we will go forward. I’m not going to let you put any words in my mouth because quite frankly I haven’t even thought about that aspect of it.”
