Super Bowl-Winning Head Coach Tom Coughlin '68, G'69 on Overcoming Adversity, Being Forever Orange on the ‘’Cuse Conversations’ Podcast

During a tumultuous start to the 2007 National Football League (NFL) season, Tom Coughlin’s ’68, G’69 New York Giants dropped their first two games in spectacular fashion, losing to the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers by a combined score of 80-48.

Coughlin had entered the season on thin ice after his Giants stumbled to the finish line the year before, and after this inauspicious start to the season, the calls for Coughlin to be fired grew louder. But Coughlin knew he had a talented team, and the Giants’ front office stuck with their veteran head coach.

Good thing they did. Never one for giving in to his critics, Coughlin grew resolute in his determination to lead the Giants to success. His team responded, rallying around their embattled coach to win six straight games and qualify for the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

The Giants became the third team to advance to the Super Bowl after winning three straight road playoff games, and their reward was a date with Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots. In one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, Coughlin’s Giants shocked the football world, rallying late for a 17-14 victory in part thanks to an improbable completion from quarterback Eli Manning to David Tyree ’02 on third down that would come to be known as “The Helmet Catch.”

Now, Coughlin has a new book out, “A Giant Win,” describing how, against all odds, the Giants pulled off perhaps the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. The book is a lesson in how to overcome adversity and how to respond when life hands you a setback.

“Our game was the greatest upset in the history of football, and of all the Super Bowls for sure. There’s a theme that goes on in the book, which is, ‘Go ahead. Tell me I can’t do something,’ that was always a great motivator for me,” says Coughlin, who won 170 games as a head coach and received the Arents Award, Syracuse University’s highest alumni honor, in 2017.

Coughlin, a three-year letter-winner on the football team under legendary Hall of Fame coach Ben Schwartzwalder, stops by to relive his coaching career, reminisce on those Super Bowl championships, and share why Syracuse University was his dream school.

He shares his memories of playing alongside Orange football legends like Floyd Little ’67, H’16 and Larry Csonka ’68, explains why the No. 44 is the most special number at Syracuse, and discusses why he and his late wife, Judy, became passionate about helping families tackle childhood cancer through the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation.

Note: This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.

Check out episode 129 of the “’Cuse Conversations” podcast featuring Tom Coughlin ’68, G’69. A transcript [PDF] is also available.