Big, bad Tom Coughlin is too tough? He’s pushing the envelope by working his new team so hard? Players have been jolted out of their comfort zone and – gasp! – actually feel put-out by the new man in charge of the Giants?
That’s my boy.
That, in effect, is Wellington Mara’s message to any and every player who is bemoaning the more stringent working conditions under Coughlin. News that several Giants have complained to the NFL Players Association about Coughlin possibly violating offseason workout rules have Mara convinced of one thing.
“I feel very good about it; it tells me the new coaching staff is doing the job that we hired them to do,” Mara, the team’s 87-year old co-owner, said yesterday, standing in the bright sunshine during Coughlin’s first mini-camp with the Giants. “When you’re 4-12, you just weren’t playing hard enough and now they’re taking whatever steps they can to play harder.”
Mara is not advocating a breach of rules – rules, he’ll remind you, he helped create. The NFLPA and the league’s Management Council are investigating complaints by 7-to-10 Giants that Coughlin has been too demanding since the start of the March 22 offseason workouts.
The program calls for workouts at Giants Stadium four times a week, and while these are technically voluntary – a player cannot be fined for missing them – it is common knowledge that anyone who stays away will be in severe trouble (see Ron Dayne, 2003, for details).
The format is essentially the same as it was under Jim Fassel, but the length and scope of the workouts under Coughlin are considerably more time-consuming, which is likely the source of the grievance. It is believed players complained about how long they’ve been asked to stay each day – Coughlin wants them to eat at least one meal at the stadium – and that when they’ve missed a workout, Coughlin has called them up to find out why, which could be construed as putting undue pressure on them to attend.
“If I find out that we’re breaking any rules,” Mara said, “we’ll correct it and move on from there.”
If the Giants are found to be in violation, they will lose one of the three weeks allowed for organized team activities.
Coughlin yesterday did not sound pleased that his first practice with his entire team – from rookie quarterback Eli Manning to Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan and everyone in between – immediately was thrust into controversy.
“That’s all I know it is right now . . . a complaint,” Coughlin said. “I don’t know what the complaint is. We’ve done everything the union has asked and forwarded all the information and that’s the end of that story, until I hear something else or see something else.”
No player admitted filing a complaint and most reacted with shock and dismay.
“It’s not big things; I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” said Strahan, the team’s player representative along with Tiki Barber.
“We’re not out there doing anything super strenuous,” added receiver Amani Toomer. “I don’t even think it’s a real issue.”
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFLPA, said that he had encountered similar complaints when Coughlin was in Jacksonville and vowed to get Coughlin if he indeed has violated the rules.
“He said he was gonna get me?” Coughlin said. “Holy cripes! That’s interesting. I never heard that one before. I want to see what the complaint actually is first. That sounds like Gene . . . I better keep my mouth shut on that.”