Coughlin, the old softy, loves his players

INDIANAPOLIS -- Love conquers all. Even the Patriots.

Tom Coughlin, the dictatorial coach who insists that players dress a certain way, show up before a certain time and conform to his ideals of what a football player should be, stood in front of the Giants on Saturday night not with a message of fire, passion or electricity. Instead, in his final address before Super Bowl XLVI, he spoke to them about something Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardi might have felt but never expressed to their underlings.

He told them he loves them.

Tom Coughlin. Told his players. That he loves them.

"It was appropriate to let them know how I felt so that they didn't have any question in their mind that I deeply appreciated what they accomplished, the fact that they've done it together, and I wasn't afraid," Coughlin said Monday.

"I told them: I'm man enough to tell you, I love you."

It struck the team and, many said, carried over into the 21-17 victory over the Patriots the following day.

SEE PHOTOSFeb. 5, 2012: Giants beat Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI

"Most guys found it to be a big deal for him to stand up and say that," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "There's a lot of men who feel that way but they aren't able to say that. It was a real big thing for him to do that.

"We all know how tough that is as a man, to get up and tell a bunch of grown men that you really love them."

From a mushy coach such as Dick Vermeil or an emotionally based one such as Rex Ryan, that might not be a surprise. But this is Coughlin we're talking about. He seemed to surprise even himself.

"It's tough love; that's your relationship normally," Coughlin said of the player-coach dynamic he was raised on and has practiced for four decades. "Very rarely do you put it or explain it any other way . . . You're the guardian, you're the guy that's trying to shape all these things. It's not touchy-feely. It's the feeling that one man can have for another one and he takes great pride in who they are and what they've become."

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Coughlin has gone from tough love to just plain love. He was asked dozens of times during the past week about how much he has changed from his days in Jacksonville and from his earlier days with the Giants, when he brought law and order to the team. He skirted around the questions as best he could. His best answer apparently came in front of the team Saturday night.

"I think that's probably pretty telling," team president and CEO John Mara said of Coughlin's use of the four-letter word. "One thing that struck me watching our guys all week is they had great camaraderie . . . Really unlike any other team I've been around, a really special group."

And that starts with Tom Cupid. Er, Tom Coughlin.

"We've proven that we can [win] with coach Coughlin as a tough guy, but now we've proven that we can win with coach Coughlin as part of the group," linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said. "He's still going to be the disciplinarian. You know if you come in late, you're going to get fined. But at the same time, he's going to be slapping people on the back, jumping up and down, doing jumping jacks in front of the meeting. It's fun."

Coughlin said he enjoyed this championship more than his first because he was "wide" enough to share it with his children, his family and even his players. He even used another word that the old Tom Coughlin would not have uttered, although this one came more freely from his formerly unsmiling lips during the last seven weeks.

That word was fun.

"I think I understand what it means in relation to our business," he said. "When it all comes together and you start to play well and you're all on the same page and there isn't any question about communication and what your focus of attention is and you really feel good about the guys taking their responsibility very seriously and everyone has that look in their eye about going to work, going to practice, accomplishing what they need to accomplish, that's fun."