Legendary New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has advanced to the next stage of Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration for the 2024 class.
On Thursday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame narrowed down the list of 31 seniors and 29 coaches and contributors to 12 semifinalists each, with Coughlin being among the latter group.
Over his 20-year head-coaching career that spanned eight seasons with the Jaguars and another 12 with the Giants, Coughlin won a pair of Super Bowls in New York in the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
He is one of 14 head coaches in the history of the NFL to win multiple Super Bowls, and nine of those are currently in the Hall of Fame. Mike Shanahan is another who has yet to be enshrined, but he is among the 12 semifinalists this year.
Coughlin will have the opportunity to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2024. This after a legendary and long 50-year career in football that had him starting as a graduate assistant at Syracuse University.
He would eventually work his way up the ranks to an offensive coordinator at Syracuse in the late 1970s, and eventually a wide receivers coach in the NFL in the late 1980s, where he helped the Giants win their second-ever Super Bowl.
𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
Longtime NFL coach and the leader of the Super Bowl-winning @Giants, Tom Coughlin. pic.twitter.com/54X8VOGoic
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) July 27, 2023
After that, he was a successful head coach at Boston College University. Coughlin then returned to the NFL to become the first-ever coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars where he helped them become what was considered arguably the most successful expansion team in NFL history, earning a combined 68-60 regular season record, with an even 4-4 postseason mark.
Following his successful stint with the Jaguars, Coughlin became the head coach for the Giants, where he went on to boast a 102-90 record, including a staggering 8-3 postseason record.
With Big Blue, the long-time coach struck pay dirt once again, winning two Super Bowls, both of which came against the New England Patriots and his former colleague, Bill Belichick.
Coughlin not only beat the 18-0 Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, he also became one of two coaches to beat the greatest football player of all time, Tom Brady, on the biggest stage.
Coughlin is well-deserving of his nomination, as his 20-year NFL record was 182-157 (.537).. The 182 victories are the 12th-highest total in NFL history and, along with his two rings, have cemented him as one of the greatest coaches of all time.
