Tom Coughlin has a bone to pick with Leo Durocher.  

Coughlin, the head coach of the New York Giants, should have been wildly successful in New York if Durocher’s famous “Nice Guys Finish Last” philosophy had any merit.  But Coughlin had the worst of both worlds: he was perceived by most as a grumpy old stickler for discipline and military-like order,  AND his team was quickly turning into perennial underachievers - a brutal combo in this town, where impatient fans like to chew up and spit out head coaches when they don’t bring home Vince Lombardi Trophies every now and then.   Incurring the wrath of the fans is one thing, but Coughlin wasn’t winning any popularity contests with his players either.  Many of them viewed their head coach as a humorless drill sargeant who imposed gratuitously strict team rules punishable with stiff fines.  

Give Tom credit.  He acknowledged that if he maintained the status quo his days in New York would be numbered.  Just about everyone in the organization urged him to soften his ways, from the Mara’s and Tisch’s (franchise owners) on down.  The implication was pretty obvious: you change as a head coach, or we’ll change head coaches.  No more twisted grimaces from the sidelines or screaming at players coming off the field fresh from a blunder.  No more hostile combative exchanges with the media, who didn’t have to work very hard at getting under Tom’s skin to the point where he would show it.

So Coughlin embarked on a quest more challenging than a 3rd and 25 deep in your own end: he decided to change his personality.  Part of that process involved a session with yours truly.  In May of 2007 I huddled with Coughlin deep within Giants Stadium in a room where players study game films.  The man I worked with that day was a class act, a real gentleman, who through his own fault was coming across as anything but.  Coughlin’s biggest character flaw was that he didn’t suffer fools gladly, so if you acted like a jerk or buffoon he wasn’t shy about letting you know it.  When that dynamic exists with a member of the media it usually makes for unfavorable press. 

Granted, Coughlin’s media coaching session with me was just one piece of the puzzle, but by training camp in July article’s started springing up in the papers about Coughlin’s softer side.  Gone was his adversarial tone with reporters and they rewarded him with some genuinely positive pieces.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Coughlin led his team to a magical championship season against steep odds.  He has now written a book about how a positive mindset and key adjustments in one’s management style can create more effective leadership.  I’m not sure if I’m mentioned in the book - it doesn’t really matter.  My advice to him was so basic it’s almost embarrassing: the media sometimes can act like a swarm of flies, so stock up on the honey and chuck the vinegar.