New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin have more of a relationship than just Coughlin ruining Belichick’s unblemished football season with one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets ever.
They used to work together. And they’re still friends.
Like so many coaches before and so many more to come, changing teams and/or positions throughout a career happens more often than not. The better coaches get the better job offers. The crappy coaches get the crappy ones … or fired.
But it’s no coincidence Belichick and Coughlin were working together then … and facing each other now.
It goes back to a man named Bill Parcells. With the New York Giants, Belichick was the defensive backs coach, and Coughlin coached the wide receivers.
“We always had a really great attitude about helping each other and, whatever we needed, we got from the other guy,” Coughlin told the New England media Wednesday via conference call. “We worked well together, as I said. He’s been a good friend and a guy that I have great respect for.”
Belichick had much of the same to say about Coughlin, which is telling of the Parcells coaching fraternity that continues to find success.
“I always had a good relationship with Tom and his family and it all started in New York,” Belichick told the media this week. “We’ve gone our separate ways, but we always stayed in touch and I have always admired what Tom has done.
“He works hard. He’s a tough, hard-working guy that puts a lot of time in. I know his teams are well prepared. I know he’s very thorough and demands a lot from his players, from his team, and I have a lot of respect for that. We try to do the same thing.
“He’s a good football coach, a good person, a good man and he treats people fairly and he’s honest. He’s tough. I respect all those things.”
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