Tom Coughlin in his three previous seasons as Giants coach insisted the lines of communication between himself and his players were always open. Yet, somewhere along the way, the message too often failed to connect.
“Tom said to us his door has been open for a long time,” punter Jeff Feagles said, “and nobody walked through it, basically.”
Sensing the problem, Coughlin for the first time in his coaching career has assembled a 10-player Leadership Council, designed to create greater harmony within the locker room and better dialogue between Coughlin and his team.
The Post has learned the makeup of Coughlin’s hand-picked committee. There’s age (Jeff Feagles), youth (Mathias Kiwanuka), calmness (Amani Toomer), the quarterback (Eli Manning) and a lightning rod (Jeremy Shockey). Michael Strahan also is a member, as are Antonio Pierce, David Diehl, Osi Umenyiora and Shaun O’Hara.
The group is “a good cross-section of the team in terms of experience, position and personality,” according to Coughlin.
“It’s a good mix, and a good group to represent the team,” right guard Chris Snee said.
Coughlin, whose fourth season with the Giants kicks off Sunday night in Dallas, had been hatching this idea for several months, and two weeks ago, while at the team hotel prior to the preseason game against the Jets, he instructed the 10 players to meet with him. That’s when he informed them of his intentions.
“The only way we succeed is if we function as one and we can’t function as one unless we’re on the same page,” Coughlin said in his first comments about this subject. “This council is another tool that we – the players and me – can use to make sure we are communicating efficiently and that the proper information is being communicated. In both directions. It’s a two-way street.”
No one was forced into service.
“He gave us the opportunity to get out if we don’t want to be on it,” Feagles said. “I’m impressed with it, it all goes with this whole theory that Tom is changing, he’s opening it up a little bit to being able to have players go to him with suggestions. He can always say no.”
This is no perfunctory committee being asked to select charities for fine money or gifts for newborn babies. Coughlin is going to lean on this group to clean up any messes, insisting players police the locker room by exerting peer pressure.
“Sometimes, players are more receptive if other players come to speak to ’em,” Snee said. “He’s kind of changing his ways a little bit, and I think it’s good for the team.”
Members will be able to air whatever gripes they have directly to Coughlin – “We’re actually getting some face time with the big guy,” O’Hara said – and Coughlin will be able to circulate his message throughout the locker room by way of having established veterans making the delivery.
“He’s trying to do as best he can to keep this team a team and not have the problems that we had last year with guys bickering and arguing and calling each other out,” Pierce explained.
“Obviously the inmates aren’t running the prison,” O’Hara added. “What we’re hoping to accomplish with it is the players who are aspiring to be leaders on this team can handle situations on our own and not bother Coach with issues we should be able to handle.”
A young player who might never summon up the courage to walk upstairs into Coughlin’s office now will have the option of pulling aside one of his 10 teammates on the council to serve as a go-between.
Coughlin had informal player committees in the past but felt he needed to “formalize” this particular method of communication as a way of limiting the off-field turmoil and distractions that compromised the Giants work environment last season.
“The responsibility’s going to come on us now,” O’Hara said, “to put that fire out before it really starts to grow.”
– Additional reporting from Steve Serby