Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( born August 31 , 1946 ) is an American football coach who is currently head coach for the New York Giants of the National Football League ( NFL ) . Coughlin has led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII . Coughlin was also the inaugural head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars , serving from 1995 – 2002 and leading the team to two AFC Championship Game s . Prior to his professional football career he was head coach of the Boston College Eagles football team from 1991 – 1993 , and served in a variety of coaching and administrative positions in college football . Early life and education . Coughlin was born in Waterloo , New York . He attended Waterloo High School , and was a good student and a letterman in football . While attending Waterloo , he gained the school ' s single season touchdown record - which still stands at 19 . In Coughlin ' s senior year , he passed an entry test for seminary school to become a Catholic priest . College . Coughlin attended Syracuse University , where he played wide receiver for the Syracuse Orange football team . He was teammates with Larry Csonka and Floyd Little . In 1967 , he set the school ' s single - season pass receiving record . Coaching style . Coughlin was mentored by Bill Parcells while Coughlin was wide receivers coach and Parcells was head coach for the New York Giants . Like his mentor , Coughlin is known as a stern disciplinarian and for his meticulous attention to detail ( for example , at the start of his Giants tenure he fined players for being two minutes early to team meetings , saying they should have arrived at least five minutes early ) , earning him the nickname " Colonel Coughlin " . Coaching career . Coughlin ' s first head coaching job was at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1970 – 1973 . He then returned to his alma mater where he was eventually promoted to offensive coordinator , a position he also held at Boston College where he coached Doug Flutie . He left the collegiate level to become a wide receivers coach in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles , and later the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants . While at New York he was an assistant to Bill Parcells , and helped the Giants win Super Bowl XXV . Boston College . After the 1990 season , Coughlin returned to Boston College to take on his second job as a head coach . In three seasons at BC , he turned the program into a consistent winner . Coughlin ' s tenure was capped with a 41 - 39 victory over # 1 ranked Notre Dame in 1993 . Jacksonville Jaguars . Coughlin ' s success at Boston College led to his subsequent hiring as the first head coach of the NFL ' s expansion Jacksonville Jaguars . In eight seasons at Jacksonville , he helmed the most successful expansion team in league history . During Coughlin ' s tenure , the Jaguars went to the AFC Championship Game twice , the first time being only the second year of the team ' s existence , and for that season ( 1996 ) , he was named NFL Coach of the Year by United Press International . Coughlin would again take the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game in 1999 after achieving a league - high 14 – 2 regular season record . However , in both appearances in the championship game , the Jaguars were defeated : in 1996 by the New England Patriots , and in 1999 , by the Tennessee Titans . Coughlin ' s Jaguars won 49 regular season games in his first five years as head coach , a remarkable average for an expansion team of nearly ten wins per year . But the Jaguars ' record for the next three years was only 19 – 29 , and after a 6 – 10 finish in 2002 , Coughlin was fired . He finished his eight - year career in Jacksonville with a 68 – 60 regular season record and a 4 – 4 playoff record . New York Giants . After being out of football in 2003 , Coughlin was named the 16th head coach of the New York Giants on January 6 , 2004 . Coughlin inherited a team that finished 4 – 12 in 2003 , but led the Giants to a surprising 5 – 2 start in his first season as head coach . After back - to - back losses in which veteran quarterback Kurt Warner struggled left the Giants at 5 – 4 , Coughlin made the decision to bench Warner and start New York ' s highly touted rookie quarterback , Eli Manning . Coughlin received criticism from some who felt the move amounted to a surrender of the 2004 season when the Giants were still in playoff contention . The Giants would go on to lose six of the seven games started by Manning , who struggled in his rookie season . Coughlin ' s early move to Manning , though , would pay dividends in 2005 , as Manning and the Giants went 11 – 5 in Coughlin ' s second season and won the NFC East for the first time since 2000 . It was also the Giants first postseason appearance since making it as a Wild Card in 2002 . However , a very poor performance by Manning , and a defense missing three starting linebackers , saw the Giants get shut out 23 – 0 at the hands of the Carolina Panthers at Giants Stadium . Following the game , Giant star running back Tiki Barber called out Coughlin and his offensive coordinator , partially because a Panthers player said that " We knew what they were going to do before they did it . " Coughlin and Barber would never reconcile their differences , with Coughlin even refusing an interview by Tiki , then a sideline reporter for NBC , which would have been held prior to a Panthers - Giants game in 2008 . Heading into the 2006 season , expectations for the Giants were high . In just over two years as the Giants head coach , Coughlin transformed the Giants from an underachieving , last place team into a possible Super Bowl contender . One of the most noticeable improvements under Coughlin was the elimination of star running back Tiki Barber ' s tendency to fumble . Barber fumbled 14 times between 2001 and 2003 . During his time with Coughlin , he only fumbled four times . Barber also saw his production increase significantly , setting career highs in rushing and total yards each year under Coughlin . The Giants struggled early during the 2006 campaign , going 1 – 2 in their first three games . After a particularly bad loss to the Seattle Seahawks , star tight end Jeremy Shockey stated that the Giants had been " outplayed and outcoached . " The Giants rebounded by winning their next five games to go 6 – 2 . However , the Giants suffered a stunning second half collapse , losing 6 of their next 7 games to fall to 7 – 8 heading into the last game of the season . After a late November loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars , Coughlin and his coaching staff were once again criticized by a player , and again it was Tiki Barber ; Barber had also recently announced he was going to retire following the season , which provided another distraction for the sliding Giants . Things took another turn for the worse the next week when the Giants blew a 21 - point fourth quarter lead and lost to the Tennessee Titans by a score of 24 – 21 . After the game Coughlin had said to the media " I ' m going to be sick about this one forever . " Numerous injuries , excessive penalties , and a high number of turnovers — all three being problems that Coughlin promised to fix when hired as Giants head coach in 2004 — had been most responsible for the downward spiral of the 2006 Giants . The media also hounded Coughlin with questions about Barber ' s announcement , and whether differences between Coughlin and Barber led to this point , and the team ' s fans and ownership were starting to get restless about the coach ' s performance ; during a 30 - 7 defeat to the New Orleans Saints late in the year a loud " Fire Coughlin " chant erupted at Giants Stadium . However , the Giants rebounded with a victory in the season ' s final game at the Washington Redskins , all but securing a playoff berth and perhaps saving Coughlin ' s job in the process . However , Coughlin and the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles , 23 – 20 , in the first round of the playoffs . On January 10 , 2007 , it was announced that Coughlin would receive a one - year extension on his current contract and would remain as the Giants ' head coach in 2007 . In the 2007 season , the Giants again started poorly with an 0 – 2 record . However , the team rebounded and won 6 straight games . The team compiled a 7 – 1 road record for the season , and they made it to the playoffs for the third year in a row . Coughlin and the Giants had their first playoff win in seven years when his team defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 6 , 2008 , 24 - 14 . The Giants immediately followed up their win against Tampa Bay by narrowly defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Playoffs , winning 21 – 17 , preventing Dallas from beating them for the third time in the season . The upset victory over the Cowboys was followed up by a 23 – 20 overtime victory against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game . This victory set up Coughlin ' s first appearance in a Super Bowl as a head coach . Super Bowl XLII took place in Glendale , Arizona on February 3 , 2008 . The game pitted Coughlin ' s New York Giants ( 13 – 6 ) against the undefeated New England Patriots ( 18 – 0 ) coached by Bill Belichick . The Patriots were favored by 12 points . The underdog Giants beat the Patriots 17 – 14 in what is often considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history . Prior to the start of Giants mini - camp in May 2008 , Coughlin and the Giants were invited by President Bush to the White House to honor their victory in Super Bowl XLII . The Super Bowl win got Coughlin a four - year contract worth roughly $ 21 million to coach the Giants through 2011 . The deal made him one of the NFL ' s highest - paid coaches . The Giants finished 8 - 8 in 2009 , despite solid offensive play , however , their defense struggled throughout the season , and they missed the playoffs . In 2010 , they began 1 - 2 , and then began a five - game winning streak to finish 6 - 2 at the bye . Heading into week 11 against the Eagles , with a record of 6 - 3 , during the last minutes of the game , Coughlin called a controversial out - of - bounds punt , when punter Matt Dodge punted the ball right to DeSean Jackson , who promptly took it to the end zone to seal the Eagles win , and eventually cause the Giants to miss the playoffs . This caused some to question whether Coughlin would keep his job as head coach after his contract expired . However , on July 24 , 2011 , he signed a one - year contract extension to remain with the Giants through the end of the 2012 season . Personal life . Coughlin is the oldest of seven children . He and his wife Judy have two daughters , Keli and Katie ; two sons - in - law named Chris ( Katie ' s husband Chris Snee plays on Coughlin ' s Giants ) ; two sons , Brian and Tim ; two daughters - in - law , Andrea ( Tim ’ s wife ) and Susie ( Brian ’ s wife ) ; and ten grandchildren : Emma Rose , Dylan , Shea , Cooper , Caroline May , Marin Elizabeth , Wesley , Brennon , Clara Amelia and Walker . While with the Giants , Coughlin has been a resident of Park Ridge , New Jersey . Foundation . Coughlin created the Jay Fund , officially the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation in 1996 while coaching at Jacksonville , Florida . The non - profit organization is devoted to assisting " children with leukemia and other cancers and their families by providing emotional and financial support to help reduce the stress associated with treatment and improve their quality of life " , according to the foundation ' s mission statement . As of early 2008 , the fund had disbursed in excess of $ 2 million while assisting over 1 , 000 families of children with cancer . Coaching tree . NFL head coaches under whom Tom Coughlin has served : Assistant coaches under Tom Coughlin who became NFL head coaches : Assistant coaches under Tom Coughlin who became NCAA head coaches :