Tom Coughlin and Giant-ness

In the next hour or so, the Giants will probably have a decision on whether or not their 2 time Super Bowl Championship Coach still has his job.  While I agree that it would be perfectly fine to fire Coughlin or Reese or both based on the last few years,  it is of paramount importance that they don't throw out the Giant-ness that Tom Coughin restored to the Franchise when he returned.

In my life the Giants have had two Super Bowl winning periods, the first started when George Young was hired.  The second started when Tom Coughlin, the assistant on the second Young/Parcells Super Bowl winner returned.   The Reeves era was un-Gianty, and the Fassel era was sort of Giants-lite: some terrific players, and an NFC Championship, but no rings.  I suspect it all really started with Jim Lee Howell and his famous assistants.

Giant-ness has to do with the zeitgeist of their apt drafting, physicality, ability to run the ball, class, ability to stop the run, tendency to never give up, etc.    While the most recent versions of the team haven't really embodied all of this,  Tom Coughlin does, and if they replace him, they better find someone else who does.

While I'm not particularly in favor of promoting McAdoo, I do think they should be looking for continuity in the type of guy they bring in.  He should have D cred like Parcells had, or O cred like TC. And he should believe in all the physical stuff, as well as getting his coffee at the 7-11.  And they should let him hire a kickass staff.

The Giants will not be the Giants if they try to go away from the only things that have ever worked for them.