When Tom Coughlin met with his team Monday for the season’s final𒐪 time, he hit on several themes in what is becoming an all-too-familiar event around the Giants: the dis꧋appointing-season farewell address.
He told the players he was proud of the way they hung together during a seven-game losing streak. He said he was proud they did not turn on one another, that they did not 🐼quit, that they fought until the end. He pointed to the season-ending 34-26 loss to the Eagles as evidence that mistakes and missed opportunities can ruin a seaso🌊n.
And Coughlin left his team with this:
“One thing h🅠e did say, too,’’ cornerback Prince Amukamara said, “is it’s never goodbye, it’s just until next time.”
It often is goodbye for head coaches who have not mಞade it into the playoffs five times in the past six years, who follow a brutal 7-9 season with what, on paper at 6-10, looks even worse. But no one is saying goodbye to Coughlin.
There will be no major changes at the top of the Giants football operations, as Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese were informed Monday they will be back. Organizational meetings were ongoing in the afte𝓀rnoon to determine what comes next, as there figure to be moves made to Coughlin’s staff, with defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, other defensive assistants and possibly special teams coordinator Tom Quinn all vulnerable.
Coughlin, Reese and co-owner John Mara are scheduled to meet with the med💦ia on Tuesday.
“The expectations are extremely high and when things go ☂well, people stick arou🌸nd … teams stay together,’’ linebacker Jon Beason said. “When things aren’t good and don’t go well, then it’s a lot of change.’’
Players have heard for a few weeks Coughlin was likely to return for a 12th year with the Giants.
“We really stand behind Coach Coughlin,” Amukamꦜara said. “We love him to death, and I’m sure you would hear that from every player.”
“Man, Coach Coughlin, he’s a stand-up man,’’ added linebacker Jameel McClain. “He’s 100 percent who he is. To come in and be motivated and bring inspiration to people day in and day out and to be an hone🌟st man, from the moment I met him he was an honest person and I respect that, I love that, I’ll play for that every day because honesty is what this league should be based on.’’
Beason, c💙oming off an injury-shortened se𒊎ason, called Coughlin “the best motivator I’ve ever been around in terms of a coach.”
Eli Manning, coming off a se♛ason of rejuvenation operating a new offense under the direction of first-year coordinator Ben McAdoo, said he is “very pleased’’ Coughliಌn will be back.
“He’s been my only coach and we’ve had great success and we’ve had some tough years, but we’ll bounce back,’’ Manning said. “I think we’re on the right steps to making that progress and making that leap from being an average team to being a pla✃yoff team.’’
Bill Parcells, the man who first brought Coughlin to the Giants as his receivers ▨coach in 1988, told The Post: “Iꦕ’m prejudiced. I’m glad he’s coming back. I think he deserves to come back because I think he’s a good coach, and I don’t think they can get a better one right now.”
Reese has been the GM since 2007 and has endured a few rough NFL drafts and subpar free-agent signings, but the 2014 draft class, led by th🌞e breathtaking Odell Beckham ꦯJr., provided the roster with an infusion of talent ownership views as a positive sign of things to come.
Following the season-ending loss, Coughlin said he wants to see his coaching staff return intact. He will fight for his assistants, to a 💮point.
Fewell’s defense finished 29th in the NFL in terms of yardage allowed and gave up 400 points for only the fifth time in franchise history. The Giants also allowed 400𝔍 points in 2011 and went on to win the Super Bowl.
“He’s a guy I’ll follow anywhere,’’ Beason said of Fewell. “I think he’s a great mind and he’ܫs won a Super Bowl here. It’s tough to coach, man, when you’re losing your guys. That’s hard.
“Yeah, I would love to have him back. He’s personable, that’s important, too, knowing how to coach, you got to𒆙 coach guys differently. I guarantee you’re not going to hear anybody saying anything bad about him as a coach or as a person.’’