Ray Handley Robert R . " Ray " Handley ( born October 8 , 1944 ) is a former American football player and coach who is best remembered for his stormy two seasons as head coach of the National Football League ' s New York Giants in the early 1990s . Collegiate career . A native of Reno , Nevada , Handley played three seasons at running back for Stanford University beginning in 1963 . During his junior season , Handley gained 936 yards , with his long ground gains during the November 14 , 1964 contest against Oregon State helping upset the Beavers , 16 - 7 . The following year began with talk of potential All - American honors , but ended in disappointment , although Handley ' s running helped defeat arch - rival California - Berkeley , 9 - 7 , in the season finale on November 21 . Brief professional playing career . Handley was signed by the American Football League ' s San Diego Chargers on June 11 , 1966 , but voluntarily left camp one month later , putting an end to his playing career . Early coaching jobs . The following year , he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach , then headed east in 1968 for two years as assistant at the U . S . Military Academy at West Point . One of his fellow coaches during this period was Bill Parcells , a connection that would prove fruitful in the future . Following a year out of the game in 1970 , Handley returned the following year for the first of four more seasons at Stanford . In 1975 , Handley shifted to coaching another branch of the armed services when he accepted an assistant position at the United States Air Force Academy . In his final year , Parcells served as head coach , but after the latter ' s departure , Handley once again returned to Stanford , serving five years under both Rod Dowhower and Paul Wiggin . New York Giants . On February 28 , 1984 , Handley was named offensive backfield coach of the New York Giants under Parcells , beginning a seven year stretch that saw the team capture two Super Bowl s . In 1990 , after coming close to leaving coaching to enter George Washington University Law School , Handley was promoted to offensive coordinator . Following the Giants ' second title in Super Bowl XXV that season , Parcells announced his retirement , and Handley was then promoted his first head coaching position on May 15 , 1991 . George Young picked Handley to serve as head coach of the Giants after then - Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick left to coach the Cleveland Browns . The bad relationship between Young and Belichick also played into Handley ' s promotion ; Young had consistently given a negative review about Belichick when teams with potential coaching opportunities inquired about him , and never felt his defensive coordinator had the leadership abilities to run his own team . In addition , Tom Coughlin , who Young had considerable respect for and would probably have promoted after Parcells ' departure if the timing had worked , quickly moved after the Super Bowl and was hired as head coach at Boston College . Head coaching stint . His first major decision of his tenure was who would be the starting quarterback . The previous season , Phil Simms had guided the Giants to an 11 - 2 record before suffering a leg injury . Backup Jeff Hostetler finished the regular season , and led the Giants to upset victories against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game and the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl . With Handley in charge of the following training camp , after the resignation of Bill Parcells , he announced that the two quarterbacks would compete for the starting job . This caused some controversy as both fans and commentators felt that Simms shouldn ' t lose his starting job due to injury . Nonetheless , Hostetler won the battle in training camp and was announced as the starting quarterback . His first game as head coach was a " Monday Night Football " game against the San Francisco 49ers ( a rematch of the 1990 NFC Championship ) . Handley ' s team would win that game , but Handley would be most remembered for wearing an unusually designed logo shirt ( bearing the New York Giants colors and logo ) . The Monday night win earned Handley the adoration of the fans , but as the team would struggle to an 8 - 8 record and out of the playoff picture , fan support quickly eroded . ( One wag held up a sign reading : " From the Super Bowl to the toilet bowl . Thanks , Ray . " ) In 1992 , the team fell further to a 6 - 10 record , leading a combative Handley to trade verbal darts with both the media and his players . Post - NFL life . Handley was officially fired on December 30 , 1992 , and replaced by former Denver Broncos head coach Dan Reeves . Following his departure , Handley would disappear from the NFL and the public eye . He now resides in the Lake Tahoe area . Before Super Bowl XLII , a reporter unearthed Handley ' s unlisted home telephone number and called him , in the hopes of talking about the 2007 Giants . Handley was unhappy at being contacted , and after being told it was for a " where are they now " interview , he said " No , I ' m not the least bit interested . Thank you very much . " and hung up the phone , making his lone post - firing public statement a very brief one ( http : / / www . newsday . com / sports / sportsblog - 1 . 537031 ) .