‘I don’t have any problems with coaches yelling in my face and telling me this and telling me that.’Brandon Jacobs
Sure, it can be annoying, but that’s the way Tom Coughlin says he was trained for the job he now holds. Like it or not, players will always know where they stand with the Giants head coach.
“The way that I was raised in this business is you comment on every play,” Coughlin said. “If I’m on the practice field and I’m coaching you, I’m gonna comment on every play the whole day long, either plus or minus. I like the spontaneity of it. If I don’t like something, I like to say it right away.”
That sort of mentoring can grate on a veteran if he’s thin-skinned and could obliterate the confidence level of a youngster, if he’s not accustomed to such intense scrutiny. But for at least two of the Giants rookie draft choices, the transition to the big leagues should be eased by the experiences they’ve had with disciplinarian-style college coaches.
Cornerback Corey Webster, a second-round pick out of LSU, toiled under Nick Saban, whose firm hand steered the Tigers to a share of the national championship and got Saban the head coaching gig with the Dolphins. Running back Brandon Jacobs, a fourth-round choice, transferred from Auburn to Southern Illinois, where he met Jerry Kill, who doesn’t know Coughlin but believes the two share a basic style.
“I’m an old hard-nosed, tough guy,” Kill said. “I think with coach Coughlin and his type of discipline, the way he runs things, I think it’s a good fit.”
Seeing Coughlin yesterday as he jumped up and down, doing a little dance for his granddaughter, Emma Rose, following the chilly morning rookie mini-camp workout, it was hard to view him as a tough guy. But he is – and that’s fine with Webster, who looks at his new coach and sees someone a lot like his old coach.
“He and coach Coughlin kind of remind me of each other – coaching style, they just demand excellence from everybody; hard-nosed guys who want you to get after it, push yourself every play,” Webster said. “I think coach Saban helped me the way he taught me and the way he coached, he helped me for a program like this right here.”
Figure Jacobs will hear plenty from Coughlin during training camp this summer in Albany, as the minds of first-year running backs often drown in the details of blitz pickups, reading defenses and hitting the hole hard enough.
“Everything coach Kill has done to me and told me, I never gave him a frown, never breathed too hard towards him, I think it really will help me, because I’m a really coachable kid,” Jacobs said. “I don’t have any problems with coaches yelling in my face and telling me this and telling me that. That just motivates me to do well and not want to screw up again.”
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According to Coughlin, the battle for the backup quarterback job will be “a wide open process,” and Jesse Palmer is in the running for the role. The spot is in a state of flux with Jim Miller out of commission following hip surgery.
