2022-10-26
A key figure serves up an in-depth analysis of an underdog Super Bowl victory.
Coughlin—pronounced COFF-lin—was the New York Giants coach in 2007, when the team went up against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. There he faced Bill Belichick, who had been a Giants coach when Coughlin started out under Bill Parcells. “We…shared one belief,” he writes. “Competition brought out the best in people.” That competition was fierce; at the time, the Patriots were 18-0, “the best record in the NFL’s history.” Yet, Coughlin writes in this nearly minute-by-minute account, the Giants brought in strategies that turned the tide. One was to pressure Patriots quarterback Tom Brady relentlessly: “We knocked him down on that play and then knocked him down sixteen more times, including five sacks….The pressure on Brady is why we won that game.” When you expect to be sacked, he adds, it tends to ruin a quarterback’s day. Other strategies were to let the Giants players, including a bunch of rookies, have free play under the tight captainship of Eli Manning, which yielded such spectacular moments as David Tyree’s still-remembered “helmet catch.” Through the lens of that storied game, Coughlin tells his own story as a player and coach, offers character sketches of his players (including Tyree, who initially “couldn’t resist the pull of the streets off the field” but became a model of comportment), and delivers a deft portrait of the pro game and the thinking that goes into every play as well as the many back-office figures who contribute to success on the field. For fans, though, the best parts of the book are the author’s nimble descriptions of small but important moments and figures in the game. For example, “Amani [Toomer] was good at running curls because he could get his body under control without telegraphing that he was slowing down.” Eli Manning provides the foreword.
A delightful read for gridiron devotees.
"In A GIANT WIN, one of football history’s greatest coaches takes the reader inside football history’s greatest game. Nobody thought we could beat the Patriots, but Coach Coughlin made us believe. In this book, he vividly recalls all the plays, players and personalities that helped David “stomp out” Goliath. Coach Coughlin is on the Mount Rushmore of all-time New York sports coaches. In A GIANT WIN, he opens up about his time in New York, sharing unprecedented insight into his relationships with his players, including myself. As a coach, he should be in the Hall of Fame. But he’s an even better man." —Michael Strahan
"There’s so much in this book that I didn’t know—and I covered this game and these teams a lot that season. One of the reasons: Tom Coughlin teams did not leak. Did you know David Tyree basically begged Coughlin to stay a Giant when drugs nearly derailed his career and life? Coughlin, who can read bullcrap, kept Tyree. Without Tyree, the greatest Super Bowl upset ever does not happen. Without Tyree, 62 Y Sail Union never makes history. Coughlin the coach was masterful that year, and Coughlin the storyteller is just as good in A GIANT WIN." —Peter King
"Super Bowl XLII was one of the best nights of my life. I don't know what I enjoyed more: Watching the Giants raise the Lombardi Trophy, or watching them put Tom Brady on his ass over and over. Reading A GIANT WIN, I felt like I was reliving that night. Like the best sports books, A GIANT WIN puts you right into the action."—Tracy Morgan
"You don't have to be a Giants fan or even a football lover to appreciate Tom Coughlin's journey to NFL greatness. Coughlin provides principles for not just succeeding in sports, but succeeding in life! It’s a wonderful example of how with hard work, dreams can come true, as told by one of the finest men in football. All that said, as a football fan, what a thrill to go behind the curtain of a championship season!" —Suzy Kolber
"Super Bowl XLII was a coaching masterpiece. In A GIANT WIN, Tom Coughlin takes the reader inside the gameplan, showing that he's a Hall of Fame author as well as a Hall of Fame coach. I coached against Tom in the NFC East for many years, and you knew his teams were always going to be well-prepared and tough, both physically and mentally. It was that mindset that helped them pull off one of the sport’s greatest upsets. A GIANT WIN masterfully tells that story. It's a must-read for anyone who has ever rooted for the underdog." —Andy Reid
"A GIANT WIN is one of the best books I’ve read about what it’s like to coach in a big game. The preparation, anticipation, the roller-coaster of emotions — it’s all here. The narrative powerfully conveys how much Coach Coughlin cares about his players as human beings. It's a side of himself he doesn't always show, but one I’ve seen through his extensive charity work. A GIANT WIN is the most intimate look ever into a Hall of Fame coach, and a person I'm privileged to call my friend." —Jill Ellis
"Super Bowl XLII put a premiere sports franchise back on top, and A GIANT WIN tells the inside story of how it happened through the eyes of a coach. That game, and really the whole season, illustrates who Tom Coughlin is. He embraces the struggle. He never gives up. In A GIANT WIN, Coach Coughlin opens up like never before." —Phil Simms
“What has always stood out to me was Tom Coughlin’s mastery of bringing out the very best in people. A GIANT WIN is a fascinating look behind the curtain at the accomplishments of a man who was always guided by principle and spent his entire career on the ‘high road.’"—Al Michaels
“Throughout, Coughlin praises his players and emphasizes the importance of humility […] Football fans and Giants devotees will find plenty to celebrate.”—Publisher's Weekly
“A key figure serves up an in-depth analysis of an underdog Super Bowl victory […] Through the lens of that storied game, Coughlin tells his own story as a player and coach, offers character sketches of his players […] and delivers a deft portrait of the pro game and the thinking that goes into every play as well as the many back-office figures who contribute to success on the field. For fans, though, the best parts of the book are the author’s nimble descriptions of small but important moments and figures in the game.”—Kirkus Review
“A GIANT WIN has the potential to succeed as a gridiron page-turner...Coughlin has delivered far more than the norm: incisive analysis and description of the game itself, empathetic attention to human nature, and a moving comprehension of the tragic nature of life. It’s not only at the Super Bowl, you realize by the final pages, that the clock inexorably ticks down to zero.” —The Atlantic
