We recently noted that Ray Perkins, the 70-year-old former coach of the Giants, has taken a new job as a head coach at a junior college, and that Perkins said that he wants to stay there for 20 years. Perkins says he thinks the current coach of the Giants could stick around that long as well.
Perkins told the New York Post that Tom Coughlin, who turns 66 next month, could coach until he’s a whole lot older than that.
“Tom Coughlin’s got another 15, 20 years in him,” Perkins said.
The oldest coaches in NFL history are George Halas and Marv Levy, who both coached until they were 72. Perkins couldn’t seriously think Coughlin will coach into his early or mid-80s, could he? Perkins insisted that he seriously believes Coughlin has the ability to coach that long.
“He does. He works out, he takes care of himself, he feels good,” Perkins said. “He’s a great coach, and I mean it. He’s got 15 or 20 more years in him. And he is totally wrong if he starts thinking of retirement, in my opinion.”
So Perkins thinks Coughlin could coach until he’s 86. And maybe that’s not so crazy. Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics until he was 87.