One week later, audio surfaces of Coughlin-Schiano exchange

Posted by Mike Florio on September 23, 2012, 8:01 AM EDT
AP

Yes, Bucs coach Greg Schiano would like to move past the incident that arose during and after the final play of the second regular-season game of his NFL career.

But it’s impossible to move on now that audio of the post-game exchange between Schiano and Giants coach Tom Coughlin finally has emerged.

Here it is, from WFLA via JoeBucsFans.com by way of TampaBaySportsCentral.com.

Unfortunately, there’s too much bleeping to know precisely what was said.  Here’s our best effort at a transcript.

Coughlin:  “What the f–k’s that all about?  Trying to hurt the quarterback?”

Schiano:  [Inaudible]

Coughlin:  “That’s bullsh-t!”

Schiano:  “Tom!  Hey Tom!”

[Extensive bleeping ensues.  Schiano apparently explains amid the bleeps that his team was going for the ball.]

Coughlin:  “Going for the ball?  You’re trying to hurt the quarterback.”

Schiano:  “Baloney!”

Of course, Schiano wasn’t trying to hurt the quarterback.  He was trying to win the game.  And Coughlin’s offense should have realized what was coming, given that the Bucs defense was dug in and ready to pounce.

As Peter King explained during halftime of Saturday’s Michigan-Notre Dame game, the Cowboys will be ready for it this week.  The reality is that every team that faces the Buccaneers will now be ready for it.

Which means that, for it ever to work, Schiano will have to put the play on the shelf for a while, breaking it out again only after someone lets their guard down.

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62 responses to “One week later, audio surfaces of Coughlin-Schiano exchange”

  2. Thats BLEEP BLEEP. Schianos full of BLEEP. How can you win the game with what 2 seconds left on the clock even if they did get the ball? Its a bush league no class play just like the coach who called it.

  7. If you honestly are trying to defend this… there’s no arguing. You’re delusional. This happens at the end of every NFL game that is “won” when the losing team just has no timeouts, and the clock can be ran out by the winning team.

  9. I have more of a problem with Schianos use of Baloney as a negative. Baloney is a delicious choice for lunch. Very underrated. Baloney with cheese and yellow mustard, then diagonal cut the bread….. How can you go wrong?

  10. Sore lose Schiano ran a dirty play not to win but to injure. Even the Bucs DL knew that and they apologized to the Giants OL. The rest of the teams will be ready to play Schiano’s Dirty Bucs hard, run up the score and show no mercy.

  11. If time is on the clock the game isn’t over. If the Bucs had the ball were they supposed to take a knee or go for the hail marry?

  14. It will never work – which is why no one does it. It should not be on the shelf to begin with.

  15. I’m amazed at the support the Bucs have from the fan base on this one.

    For decades it’s been accepted that a team that had locked up a victory had the right to take a knee to end the game if they so chose.

    Now Tampa is using that as an opportunity to pig pile on the QB.

    Where were all these advocates of “playing every play” for the last 20 years?

    And if Schiano really DID have his team playing tough for all 60 minutes wouldn’t THEY be the ones taking the knee at the end of the game?

  16. Only 5 seconds left. Even if they got the ball time would be expired. Sounds like a QB bounty to me. Suspend the entire TB coaching staff and all D players for a year!

  17. What bothered me was seeing Coughlin so arrogant to lambast a fellow coach as if to say, ‘How can this upstart whipper-snapper rookie coach come in here and do this after I just won the superbowl?’ He knew they’d be surrounded by cameras and all the world would see him puffing out his feathers. Even if you could convince me Schiano committed an etiquette violation, you’d be hard pressed to have me believing Coughlin’s wasn’t worse.

  18. You guys always talk about that if it had worked it would have been an outstanding call. But what if it didn’t and Eli got hurt seriously. Then you all would be saying how dirty it was.

  19. It’s quite simply a case of dirty ball!! Is winning 1 game n a malicious way worth ur rep, Mr Schiano? The fact that it was an xtremely low chance of working tells me all I need to kno–tragically, u stil dont get it…but u will.

  21. Every team should go after Freeman then.
    Schiano is bush league, perfect for the Glazer’s bush league operation

  22. Shiano instructing them to do that will only encourage other teams to run up the score on the Bucs.

  23. I have to come down on Schiano’s side on this… if your team is within one score, which the Bucs were, I think that it is unquestionably legitimate to attempt to force a turnover, no matter how much a longshot. History has shown that to be true… the Giants need to look no further then their own history (Miracle at the Meadowlands 1978) to know it ain’t over until it’s over. If the Giants weren’t prepared for it, that’s their problem.

  25. “Of course, Schiano wasn’t trying to hurt the quarterback. He was trying to win the game.”

    Ok. So explain why he left Talib one on one on Nicks when Nicks was shredding him all game long? Oh, and please explain Mr. “we play to the last play” Schiano having HIS QB take a knee THREE times the week before when Tampa played Charlotte. You’ve certainly discussed this a LOT. Yet, those two inconvenient facts are never brought up. Why?

  26. hopefully the giants’ knees are ok, and so are the bucs’ necks and backs. now, can both teams move on despite this being referenced constantly? the giants surely have, as they thoroughly dominated carolina on thursday, and have a veteran coach who has seen everything under the sun. how the bucs handle themselves will have to be seen…

  27. Schiano’s rep as a sore loser dirty coach has followed him to the NFL. The Dirty Bucs don’t need to add a Gregg Williams type coach…they have Schiano. The cheapskate Glaziers won’t even put up the bounty money. Imagine!

  29. I can actually understand both Coughlin and Schiano’s side of this. Coughlin of course needs to worry about the health of his players especially QB. I would definitely think this was a jerk move from Tampa if they were down by more than one score. Now the chances of knocking the ball loose and picking it up for a touch is very very unlikely but if within the rules, the defense should go for it. It is no different than an offense throwing up a Hail Mary. Because New York chose not to run an offensive play does not mean the defense has to do the same. Until rules are changed, perhaps the offense simply needs to continue running plays until the final gun. Just my opinion of course……

  31. “For decades it’s been accepted that a team that had locked up a victory had the right to take a knee to end the game if they so chose.”
    ——————————————————-
    No one is claiming that they don’t have the right to take a knee. But the other team has the right to try to force a fumble too.

  32. When the play first happened, I sided with my team, the Giants. As the week has progressed I find myself taking the side of Schiano and the Bucs. I don’t think they were trying to hurt Eli and how do you enforce an unwritten rule?
    The only issue I have is that this was Schiano’s 2nd NFL game as a HC. Is this the point you want to start making waves in the league? I think you have to respect the establishment for a while before you pull a stunt like this.

  35. If the Cowboys are ahead with seconds it’d be cool if they fake the kneel down and throw one over the top on the final play.

  36. “Oh, and please explain Mr. ‘we play to the last play’ Schiano having HIS QB take a knee THREE times the week before when Tampa played Charlotte. ”
    ———————————————————
    I’ll explain it to you: he was trying to run out the clock. The other team still had a right to go for the ball.

  37. How do you put trying to win on the shelf for a while? You mean walk away from a few one score games in hopes of lulling some team to sleep? I don’t think so. If you need that ball at the end of the game, you have to go for it even if the other team knows exactly what is coming. Nothing else makes any sense.

  38. I must admit I do find the term “Gentlemen’s agreement” used in a sport with trash talk and hard hits rather ironic 🙂

  39. If belichick did it the rest of the league would be doing it from now on

    It’s been accepted for decades that football is a gladiator sport and now that has turned on its head. It is still number 1 but much less exciting to watch. 10 years it will be arena league numbers because you can’t hit anyone

  41. You can’t cry about getting punched if you don’t put your guard up when someone is in position to hit you. Btw the Herm Edwards play, one of the best plays ever, was at the end of the game like this. The Bucs should’ve won that game, but they still earned some respect with that performance. They were beating the hell out of the Giants up until the last 10 minutes. New York pulled off a lucky end of the game victory like they are known for doing. Still the Buccaneers are to be feared moving forward.

  44. I’m sick of hearing the run up the score excuse. A loss is a loss. Doesn’t matter if it’s 4 scores or one point. They hurt the same so if the rest of the league wants to try and run up the score then bring it. The kneel down is a chicken sh** play anyway. It’s a safe way to end the game not a way to show mercy.

  45. It was only one score, the Bucs had a shot. It woulkd have taken a miracle to recover the fumble and score, but the chance is still there. If it were more than one score, then it’s bush league.

    That said, Eli and the Giants kind of non-chalanted the kneel down. You can’t assume your opponent will just roll over and die.

  51. If the giants were on their own 3 yd line up by 2 points. Do the rules change since a safety or your much closer to a TD?

    ———————

    YES!

    its not like he pulled this trick when he had a realistic shot at winning. Lets say he did recover the ball, he would have had no time left to even do anything.

    he should have saved it for when there was still time left on the clock after a potential turnover, like say when teams down the ball at the two minute warning. doing at at midfield with less than 5 seconds makes it look foolish.

  53. If I were coaching against Schiano, the Victory Formation would become the Victorious Chop Block Formation.

  55. I see a lot of the people so worried about this play are the same ones calling Golden Tate’s hit on Sean Lee “a good hit”. The only guys that took any cheap shots on this play were Giants OL, And Tate’s hit was just as cheap.

  56. depstein1983 says: Sep 23, 2012 10:25 AM

    Maybe life wasn’t so bad at Rutgers after all (4-0 without him)…
    ______________________________________

    Or, most likely, all the players on that team, players he recruited, are damn good players because Schiano can actually evaluate talent?

  59. Troy Aikman gave an interview this week saying the QB/O-line of a winning team will tell the D-line of the other team that they’re taking a knee and it’s up to the D-line to say that’s fine with us…Schiano has his guys playing hard until the final whistle and it was in no way meant to hurt the QB, it was to surprise him and maybe cause a fumble, which would allow for one shot at the end zone for Tampa…No problem with what he did and I think Coughlin handled it the wrong way by getting angry on the field…Wait until after the game and then talk to Schiano in person or give him a call like Parcells said he used to do when something like this happened to his teams

  60. If you’re worried about your QB getting hurt, then coach the 5 guys in front to play 60 minutes. The NFL has a campaign for children called play60, let the players and coaches back that up by actually playing 60 minutes. If this happens again, it won’t be called bush league because now teams will prepare to play the entire game. Schiano will just be the catalyst for change. If you’re down by more than 7 points, then kneel all you want and lay down all you want.

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