By Bob Glauber/The Washington Post
ALBANY, N.Y. — Tom Coughlin isn’t quite sure when the memorable sayings — the ones from Confucius to Lincoln to Lombardi — became a part of his coaching lexicon. The seeds probably were planted when he was growing up playing football and turned into a star wingback at Syracuse University. Once he got into coaching, he realized words could sometimes have as profound an impact on players as blocking and tackling.
Tom Coughlin, Giants head coach
“When I became a coach, I paid more attention to these sayings,” the Giants’ coach said. “We’re all in the business of psychologically making sure certain things are always referred to, and that’s why it’s a big point of emphasis. Getting the right messages across to the players is very important to me.”
The Giants open defense of their unlikely Super Bowl championship run last season Friday in Albany, where Coughlin will preside over the usual assortment of punishing two-a-day practices in brutal heat and humidity. But for all the physical preparation required, the team’s mental approach might be even more critical as the Giants attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions, which has been done only nine times in NFL history.
That’s where the words come in.
You can find them all over the team’s locker room. Hear them in the meeting rooms. And read them in the Giants’ in-house monthly newsletter, “Under The Helmet.” On the cover of the May newsletter was a quote from Confucius:
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” Inside was a quote from Abraham Lincoln that read: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
Neither Confucius nor Lincoln came up with last year’s catchphrase, but the line served the Giants’ situation perfectly: “Talk is cheap. Play the game.”
With all the bickering of previous seasons, especially the critiques leveled by former running back Tiki Barber, Coughlin threw that one out there early in the offseason. It was an appropriate mantra for a team that cut back on the controversy and indeed wound up doing its talking on the field — all the way to victory over the previously unbeaten Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Today, the “Talk is cheap. Play the game” line is posted on a wall outside the team’s video room.
This year’s motto is a bit simpler, yet equally meaningful: “It’s a whole new season.”
It is Coughlin’s way of getting the Giants focused on what lies ahead, not dwelling on last season’s miracle run.
Coughlin likely will embellish the line with a more richly worded saying from former UCLA coach John Wooden, another of Coughlin’s coaching role models:
“Learn from the past, don’t live in the past. The infection of success can lead you to live in the past, to believe that what happened before is automatically going to happen again.”
Oh, and in case you’re wondering whether the players relate to the sayings that Coughlin trots out, and if they have any measurable effect on their performance, rest assured. They adore them, and they apply them to football.
“I like that one right over there,” running back Brandon Jacobs said, pointing to a saying on a wall next to the team’s training room.
It reads:
“Control your emotions, direct yourself under pressure and make the right choices.”
“That one is perfect, because you’ve got to control your emotions and direct yourself under pressure. So when you’re — – off and mad because something didn’t go your way, you want to be able to bounce back on the next play to make it better.”
Safety James Butler lists this one as his favorite:
“Prepare like you just lost your last game.’
“It keeps you hungry,” Butler said. “I think it applies to the individual and to the team.”
Defensive end Justin Tuck likes the one from Bill Russell, the former Celtics star center who won 11 NBA titles, posted near the door to the locker room:
“My ego was centered around my teams’ success, not my accomplishments. How could I help my teammates to get better?”
“I respect a guy that’s got 11 championships,” Tuck said. “How can you not? It’s something that sticks with you, like a lot of the sayings that brings out. There are different sayings that are appropriate for different scenarios.”
The Giants now begin the Herculean task of attempting to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and their emotional preparation will be critical to their success. Toward that end, look for Coughlin to trot out plenty more inspirational and meaningful quotes.
“I’ve got a bunch of favorite sayings, but the most important ones are about the sense of team,” Coughlin said. “That’s always first and foremost with me.”
Coughlin will provide the occasional Vince Lombardi quote, but more judiciously than you might imagine, considering the former Packers coach has been one of Coughlin’s most important role models.
“It’s not because I didn’t think they were appropriate, because what has said is for all time,” Coughlin said. “But there are some things that I’m more interested in the players hearing either coming from me or a different way of saying it.”
Ultimately, Lombardi’s message does get to the players, even if it might not be in his exact words. One of Coughlin”s favorite Lombardi-isms might thus apply:
“Physical toughness will make the opponent weaken and mental toughness will make him crack.”
Words to live by.
Especially for a defending Super Bowl champion.
Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
