The odds of Tom Coughlin returning to coach the 2015 Giants have skyrocketed dramatically. So dramatically, in fact, The Post has learned the Giants are leaning strongly towards bringing him back next season for one last Super Bowl run.
How strongly?
“99.9 percent he’s back,” a source familiar with the club’s thinking told The Post Sunday night.
The Giants, as is their preferred policy, prefer to make their decisions public when the season ends.
“I have no comment,” co-owner John Mara said following Giants 24, Redskins 13.
“No comment,” co-owner Steve Tisch said.
Neither owner would divulge whether the decision on Coughlin’s future has already been made.
A source told The Post several weeks ago Coughlin’s return at that time was “50-50.”
It has since become crystal clear that the Giants are fighting to the end with Coughlin.
There are other factors that have weighed strongly on ownership’s thinking:
- No one ever likes using injuries as an excuse, but the 2014 Giants have been decimated, with 20 players — including key players such as Victor Cruz, Jon Beason, Geoff Schwartz, Walter Thurmond III, Prince Amukamara and Rashad Jennings — sidelined either for all or significant stretches of the season. The drunken-sailor free-agent binge general manager Jerry Reese went on in the offseason has hardly paid dividends.
- Coughlin is widely, if not universally, respected in the locker room and at the highest levels of the organization. He and Reese have enjoyed a healthy working relationship.
- Coughlin — and Eli Manning — were asked to preside over the changing of offensive coordinators, from Kevin Gilbride to Ben McAdoo, who is calling plays for the first time in his version of the West Coast offense. Manning is growing more comfortable, and asking him to start over again with a new offense and new coordinator next season wouldn’t make sense. If the powers-that-be view McAdoo as a possible heir apparent, another season of working under Coughlin would only help his candidacy. Give them Odell Beckham Jr. and Cruz together on the field and get them another offensive lineman or two, and let it ride.
- Coughlin is the only head coach Manning has played for, and he has told The Post he believes Coughlin remains the right man for the job.
- Coughlin still has the fire in his belly and no one, now that 68 is the new 67, has seen a drop-off in his energy, passion or will to win.
- The Giants have long reaped the benefits of stability and continuity, and Coughlin’s values remain treasured by the organization.
TOM MUST STAY is the right call.
Yes, he has missed the playoffs three straight seasons. But his voice is still being heard. His preparation isn’t the reason the Giants are 5-9. This isn’t about sentimentality. It’s about keeping a Hall of Fame coach where he belongs. Coughlin once wrote a book titled “A Team To Believe In.” The Giants still have A Coach They Believe In.
First-and-2015 for Tom Coughlin.