Long before Tom Coughlin was head coach of the New York Giants he was the club’s wide receivers coach under Bill Parcells.
In an interview with Michael Eisen of Giants.com, Coughlin shared some interesting memories of working with Parcells, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday evening.
Among Coughlin’s memories was Parcells’ knack for quickly breaking down practice tape.
“Bill was very demanding,” Coughlin told Giants.com. “The thing that I’m still amazed at is we looked at the practice tape as an offensive and defensive staff every day and we did it in about a half an hour. He was amazing. He just flew through it. He knew what he wanted.”
Coughlin also recalled the 1990 season, when the Giants lost quarterback Phil Simms to injury and had to turn to Jeff Hostetler.
“One of the things that’s very important to remember is that Jeff Hostetler was ready,” Coughlin told Giants.com.
Said Coughlin, per the club’s site: “He was ready because of the way he practiced.”
Parcells, Coughlin recalled to Giants.com, “was hard on himself and he was hard on the scout teams. He expected people to carry out their assignments to the best of their ability so that he could get his work and they could, too.”
The 1990 Giants would go on to win Super Bowl XXV to cap a season that’s regarded as perhaps the crowning achievement of Parcells’ career, considering New York had to beat exceptional San Francisco and Buffalo squads -- and with a backup quarterback, no less.
That the backup quarterback was prepared was no fluke, as Coughlin recalled it.