Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee say Tom Coughlin shouldn’t be fall guy
Shaun O'Hara of the New York Giants looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles at Giants Stadium on Dec. 13, 2009 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Getty Images / Nick Laham
Tom Coughlin’s boys had his back on Monday.
Shaun O’Hara and Chris Snee, two of the cornerstone offensive linemen of Coughlin’s Giants teams, both expressed their disappointment in Coughlin’s decision to step down as head coach — and put the blame more firmly on the men who built the team.
“There were so many things about the Giants that weren’t coach Coughlin’s fault,” said O’Hara, an NFL Network analyst. “I challenge anybody to win as many games as he has in the last couple of years given the injuries that this team has fallen on and given the roster . . . The reality is coaches get fired when players [stink] and when you don’t do your job.”
“Honestly, he should receive Coach of the Year consideration for the team he had out there,” Snee, who is Coughlin’s son-in-law, said on SiriusXM’s NFL Radio. “I said it before earlier in the week; that whole coaching staff did a great job with the roster they had, and I’ll leave it at that. But in typical coach Coughlin fashion, he takes full blame and full responsibility for everything. That was his team and he accepts they hadn’t made the playoffs in the past couple of years and he understands that a change had to be made. But I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m not sad for him and also very angry and frustrated over the decision.”
O’Hara said he watched the Giants lose to the Eagles on Sunday.
“Chip Kelly was fired because they felt like he had failed in building the roster and building that team and the chemistry,” O’Hara said. “I’m sitting there watching the game and I’m looking at the Eagles and I’m saying the Eagles have a better roster than the Giants. They have more talent. I’m saying Chip Kelly is being fired because he didn’t build a good enough roster and now we’re looking over here at Tom Coughlin and saying you didn’t win enough games. To me, it’s irresponsible to place everything on coach Coughlin.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
