So much for basking in the glow of Super Bowl XLII.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin got right back to work shortly after the game and parade down the Canyon of Heroes. And after a brief vacation, he's at the Scouting Combine checking out this year's draft-eligible players.
"You really don’t ever stop," he said. "We got back (from the Super Bowl) on a Monday night,
we had our exit meetings, et cetera, on Tuesday morning, we had a magnificent
experience in the Canyon of (Heroes) over there in New York and we had a great
session when we came back to the Meadowlands with the fans being there. Then,
all of a sudden, the next day we had to do rankings and evaluations and write-ups
and needs and things of that nature. So we went right ahead and did that. And then,
as soon as we got back (from vacation), we continued along those lines with the
information coming about the combine and free agency and started the evaluation
of free agents, started our cut-ups. So we jumped right back into it."
A few other snippets from his media session today in Indianapolis at the Scouting combine:
"It’s wonderful to hear people say ‘Super Bowl champions’ and ‘champions of the world.’ It’s kind of nice to get here and be back in the football environment and see so many friends
from years gone by, people that have been in the league for a long time.
It’s just a nice thought.”
On how much this year's rookie class helped the Super Bowl run:
"The great thing about it was our veteran leadership on our team really did a great
job, along with our coaches, of transitioning those young guys right from their rookie
year right into professional football. Even though you go through the dips with every
one of them, because of the length of the season, because of things they’re not
used to, they certainly responded extremely well. And the thing about that group
was none of them had the big eyes. The stage wasn’t too big for them, even coming
right down the stretch. I think that was a mark of, one, the understanding of
team, two, the veterans doing a great job and really seriously taking to thought
and mind and action the fact that you can’t let the other guys down."
On what he gets out of the combine:
"What I like to do is to come to the combine without a lot of … I mean, I’ve got lists and
information and all of that stuff, but I like a good first impression and then I like to
go back and do as much research as I possibly can to develop my thoughts about what our
needs are and what we’re trying to accomplish, whether it be free agency or the draft.
This is the process and the beginning of it for me. I’m very grateful I didn’t have
a lot of time to prepare for this."
On adjustments he'll have to make to the off-season program because of the Super Bowl run:
"Well, we have to push the start of the offseason program back a little bit. We’ll still
get the 10 weeks in, but just barely. The way I look at that question is a good one
because, even if you take just the first week of the playoffs, after that there’s
some 15 practices and three really exciting, competitive, difficult football games.
So I think our young guys have benefited, all our guys have benefited from that.
So we’ll approach it from that standpoint. We’ll certainly throw as much at them
as we can in textbook area, do an outstanding job with our young guys once we
get them in there. But I’ll take into consideration everything, the calendar
date, etc., and point towards our mini-camps and then our training camp."
On the psychological effect of being the team everyone is trying to beat:
"Well, I haven’t obviously sat down and spent a lot of time about the formulation of
the theories and context that I’m going to approach in terms of opening training
camp with the players. But one of the things this team did very well was they continued
to look forward. They never sat and overanalyzed the last game, for example. They
always looked forward. And having something to prove is always something that we
challenged them with. And the fact that we are Super Bowl champions is not going
to change that. We have so many new teams that we’re playing next year, so much
preparation that has to be done. This is a team that I hope will grasp that concept as well.