Published : Feb. 7, 2012 - 18:53
New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.(AP-Yonhap News)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Tom Coughlin is looking forward to the parade and a couple weeks off to reflect on the Giants’ second championship in five seasons. Then he will begin preparations for defending the title.
The 65-year-old coach sees no reason to retire now.
“I mean, it’s what I do,” Coughlin said Monday morning, hours after New York beat the New England Patriots 21-17 in the Super Bowl. “So the alternative I’ve never really given it a whole lot of consideration. (Just coach) as long as I can.”
Coughlin could be around for a while following his second title as a head coach. He signed a contract extension in July that runs through next season, but it looks as the Giants could revisit that deal following the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl win.
It’s obvious he still wants to coach.
“I don’t fish, I don’t golf,” he said. “My wife keeps telling me, ‘You better have something to do, buddy boy. If you think you’re going to hang around here, you’re crazy.’”
Giants chief executive John Mara said it’s safe to say the team wants Coughlin to return.
“He might be 65, but he’s got the energy of somebody quite younger than that,” he said.
The Giants packed up early Monday morning and boarded busses around 11 a.m. for a trip to the airport and the flight back to New Jersey. Several players saluted the crowd as they departed the aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport, and some used video recorders to capture the scene. Coughlin also had a big smile as he waved to the crowd.
The big parade up the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan is scheduled for Tuesday.