Ernie Accorsi, the Giants’ general manager, confirmed last night that yes indeed, he conducted an interview yesterday with Tom Coughlin, not in Florida but in the New York area. John Mara, the team’s executive vice president, was also present at a meeting that lasted “for an extensive period,” according to Accorsi.
It’s the first in what will be a long and involved process to find the successor to Jim Fassel, who will coach the final game of his seven-year stay with the Giants on Sunday against the Panthers.
Don’t think that the specter of Coughlin hasn’t already infiltrated the Giants locker room. Other candidates, such as New England coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, will be sought for interviews, as will Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. College coaches Nick Saban (LSU) and Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) also are on the dance card.
It is Coughlin’s hard-boiled reputation, though, that is paramount in the minds of the players.
Asked not specifically about Coughlin, but about the next head coach in general, defensive end Michael Strahan, the team’s marquee player, said: “Do I think I could play for just about anybody? Probably yeah. But now this far into it, do I just want to play anybody? Probably no. It’s a lot different than the first coaching change, when Dan Reeves left and Fassel came in. I was a young player and you just kind of go with the flow.”
Strahan refused to go through a list of candidates but did say, “There are certain type of coaches I prefer to play for and certain ones I would not prefer to play for.”
He later said he might retire, a la Barry Sanders, if he didn’t like the team’s choice.
“I’m joking, man,” he added.
The Coughlin interview will be the last one the Giants will conduct for a while. The earliest the Giants can ask permission to speak with NFL assistants is Monday, when they will call the Patriots and Rams to set up interviews between Dec. 28 and Jan. 2, during the playoff bye week.
This is the start of a surreal week for the Giants (4-11), as Fassel, devoid of spirit, prepares to close up shop. He signaled the beginning of the separation process when he said “That will be their evaluation, not one I need to comment any more on,” when asked about the prospects of quarterback Jesse Palmer with the Giants.
“Knowing this is going to be the end, there’s a lot of things I want to get in place, not only the game but the closing down of the season and my era here,” Fassel said. “I’ll make a fairly swift exit so they can move on.”
That Accorsi and Mara yesterday kicked off the interview process with Coughlin could be viewed as insensitive, considering Fassel is not yet out of the building. Fassel, though, knew once he instigated the announcement of his firing last Wednesday that this, like it or not, would be the result.
“There are certain things in life you’ve got to be able to deal with,” Fassel said. “It may not be the most comfortable, it may be out of the norm a little bit, but that’s what has to be done.”
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Tiki Barber left the stadium to get X-rays of his two sore shoulders, which might prevent him from playing in the season finale . . . DT Keith Hamilton, who is headed toward retirement after 12 years with the Giants, met with Fassel yesterday. “I think deep down inside him he feels where he is, with me leaving, it may be the appropriate time for him,” Fassel said.
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