What you thought you saw from Coughlin is what he was, Rhule said. Tough, demanding, but the best Rhule has seen at putting players in a position to succeed. Winning different ways, with different kinds of players.
The human side of Coughlin was evident, Rhule said, when Rhule's wife was having a difficult pregnancy and at one point had to go to the hospital. This was just before the Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys. Rhule got to the hospital, then got to the team meeting. Coughlin went over to him.
"He comes off almost angry, like, 'What are you doing here?' " Rhule said.
Rhule remembers the head coach who would have time for five or 10 minutes of small talk in the morning in the locker room after a personal workout. Most every morning.
"Once work started, it wasn't touchy-feely," Rhule said. "It was get the job done."
When they had Tuesday meetings and it was time for him to present something, Rhule quickly found out he would get grilled by the head coach if there was a small hole in the presentation.
"Just really exacting, really precise," Rhule said. "It was something to measure myself on a Tuesday - all right, he didn't have questions."
Rhule hasn't forgotten Coughlin took the time to call Temple's athletic director on behalf of the assistant offensive line coach. And that one-on-one time - Rhule noticed it wasn't just for him.
"I had been in college football - I didn't know what it would be like," Rhule said. "I saw as a young coach, you need to spend time with guys one-on-one, whether your franchise [NFL] quarterback or your [college] freshman backup. If you're saying something, you better do it one-on-one."
That's why, Rhule said, you're seeing an outpouring of emotion from Giants franchise quarterback Eli Manning and quite a few others about their coach's leaving the building.
Don't read any of that sideways, taking it as a knock on Chip Kelly. Rhule has talked many times of the strong relationship he had with the now-former Eagles coach and the respect he had for Kelly, who always had time for him and was a consistent supporter of Temple's football program.
It's just that the guy up the turnpike had the day-to-day impact on Rhule. One year was enough.
"There are lots of great organizations but I think the Giants are the class of the NFL," Rhule said. "It's just been that way for years and years and years. And that's who he was, day in and day out."
"There are lots of great organizations but I think the Giants are the class of the NFL," Rhule said. "It's just been that way for years and years and years. And that's who he was, day in and day out."
The human side of Coughlin was evident, Rhule said, when Rhule's wife was having a difficult pregnancy and at one point had to go to the hospital. This was just before the Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys. Rhule got to the hospital, then got to the team meeting. Coughlin went over to him.
"He comes off almost angry, like, 'What are you doing here?' " Rhule said.
Rhule remembers the head coach who would have time for five or 10 minutes of small talk in the morning in the locker room after a personal workout. Most every morning.
"Once work started, it wasn't touchy-feely," Rhule said. "It was get the job done."
When they had Tuesday meetings and it was time for him to present something, Rhule quickly found out he would get grilled by the head coach if there was a small hole in the presentation.
"Just really exacting, really precise," Rhule said. "It was something to measure myself on a Tuesday - all right, he didn't have questions."
Rhule hasn't forgotten Coughlin took the time to call Temple's athletic director on behalf of the assistant offensive line coach. And that one-on-one time - Rhule noticed it wasn't just for him.
"I had been in college football - I didn't know what it would be like," Rhule said. "I saw as a young coach, you need to spend time with guys one-on-one, whether your franchise [NFL] quarterback or your [college] freshman backup. If you're saying something, you better do it one-on-one."
That's why, Rhule said, you're seeing an outpouring of emotion from Giants franchise quarterback Eli Manning and quite a few others about their coach's leaving the building.
Don't read any of that sideways, taking it as a knock on Chip Kelly. Rhule has talked many times of the strong relationship he had with the now-former Eagles coach and the respect he had for Kelly, who always had time for him and was a consistent supporter of Temple's football program.
It's just that the guy up the turnpike had the day-to-day impact on Rhule. One year was enough.
"There are lots of great organizations but I think the Giants are the class of the NFL," Rhule said. "It's just been that way for years and years and years. And that's who he was, day in and day out."
Rhule on TC - ( New Window )
"There are lots of great organizations but I think the Giants are the class of the NFL," Rhule said. "It's just been that way for years and years and years. And that's who he was, day in and day out."