“I want to leave on my own terms. I will want to do this until I’m tired of it and I’ve had enough.”JIM FASSEL

When he arrived back in 1997, Jim Fassel was confident he could turn the Giants around, but he also knew the shelf life of an NFL coach is not long. There would be a time for him to go and when that time came, he wanted to exit rather than be shoved out the door.

“The best description I gave to my wife when I came here, I said I want to leave on my own terms,” Fassel said. “I will want to do this until I’m tired of it and I’ve had enough. But I also said it’s like walking the tightrope. I said the only thing I want, whoever’s holding the rope, just hold it tight, don’t be wiggling the rope when I’m walking on it. I’ll make it, just don’t wiggle the rope.”

The rope is not merely wiggling, it’s undulating so violently that there’s little chance for Fassel to keep his footing. His Giants are 4-6 heading into Monday night’s game against the equally disappointing 4-6 Buccaneers in Tampa, but unlike the rock-solid job security enjoyed by Jon Gruden, Fassel battles daily conjecture that his coaching tenure in New York is nearing an end.

In an informal session with a small group of reporters, away from the bright lights, Fassel yesterday spoke calmly and reflectively about what’s gone wrong with the Giants and couldn’t help getting dragged into conversation about a firing that seems almost imminent.

“I want to always buck the odds,” he said. “When I got hired, what are the odds of you making it seven years? What’s the odds of you getting to the Super Bowl in four years? Buck the odds. But you can’t keep bucking the odds all the time.”

The odds are stacked heavily against Fassel, 58-47-1 as the Giants head coach, surviving to year No. 8, but this draining season hasn’t tempered his desire to keep at it. Fassel, 54, said “I’m not burnt out on coaching, not at all.”

If he does not return to the Giants, Fassel strongly wants to stay in the NFL, but said after so many years as a head coach he would not accept an offensive coordinator’s job.

Such talk should not be construed as Fassel already cashing in the season or his job. He said he’s never once sought a vote of confidence or a where-do-I-stand explanation from ownership or GM Ernie Accorsi.

“Never have once,” Fassel said. “It’s not appropriate until the season’s over, I don’t worry about it and probably as much as anything I look at what have we really done with what we started with, and how does it measure to everybody else.”

Fassel is proud of the resume he’s built in his seven years with the Giants but did not lobby for a chance to stay if this season continues to fade away, with two more major injuries – safety Shaun Williams and defensive end Kenny Holmes are both through – depleting the roster even further.

As far as the strain that comes with dwindling job security, Fassel said it’s more difficult for his family and friends than it is on him.

“It affects [his wife] Kitty and it affects the kids,” Fassel said. “They love you, they know who you are, they know how hard you work, to see you hammered. That’s your dad, that’s your husband, whatever.

“To me, I can’t deny I don’t like it either, but I can go about my job. You learn to deal with it and go about your job.”