Eli Manning On WFAN: Tom Coughlin 'A Good Role Model For Any Person'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the first time in his NFL career, Eli Manning will play for a coach other than Tom Coughlin.
Coughlin stepped down as Giants coach Monday after 12 seasons -- the last four ending without a playoff appearance. In an interview with WFAN's Mike Francesa on Monday afternoon, Manning raved about the coach he won two Super Bowls with.
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"He's just a good man. He's a great football coach," Manning said. "He's passionate about everything that he does, and you see that with his football and his job and being around the young guys, and he enjoys that. He enjoys the preparation part of the games and getting your team prepared for every situation that could come up.
"He's passionate about his charity and the Jay Fund that he does," the quarterback added. "And he's passionate about his family and his grandkids and his kids and Judy, his wife. He's just a good man. He's a good role model for any person whether you played under him, and I think a lot of people have great respect for him."
Manning said he didn't have an opportunity to talk to Coughlin after learning about his resignation -- the coach met with the team Monday morning but did not address his future then. Manning said he will reach out to his now-former coach this week and "reflect a little bit on our time."
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When asked about what he would like from the future coaching staff, Manning indicated he'd prefer to remain in the same offensive system, an endorsement of sorts for the team to retain offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
The Giants ranked sixth in the league this season in scoring offense with 26.2 points per game and eighth in total offense with 372.2 yards per contest.
"I think this year I really had a firm grasp of the offense and what we were doing and on the same page, and I thought we did a good job," Manning said. "We lost some important guys, some key guys to the offense, but were still able to score a lot of points."
