New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference East division; the team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in the town of Foxborough, located 21 miles southwest of downtown Boston, Massachusetts and 20 miles northeast of downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The Patriots are headquartered at Gillette Stadium. An original member of the American Football League, the Patriots joined the NFL in the 1970 merger of the two leagues; the team changed its name from the original Boston Patriots after relocating to Foxborough in 1971. The Patriots played their home games at Foxboro Stadium from 1971 to 2001 moved to Gillette Stadium at the start of the 2002 season; the Patriots' rivalry with the New York Jets is considered one of the most bitter rivalries in the NFL. Since the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady in 2000, the Patriots have since become one of the most successful teams in NFL history, winning 16 AFC East titles in 18 seasons since 2001, without a losing season in that period.
The franchise has since set numerous notable records, including most wins in a ten-year period, an undefeated 16-game regular season in 2007, the longest winning streak consisting of regular season and playoff games in NFL history, the most consecutive division titles won by a team in NFL history. The team owns the record for most Super Bowls reached and won by a head coach–quarterback tandem, most Super Bowl appearances overall, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl wins, tied with the Denver Broncos for the most Super Bowl losses. On November 16, 1959, Boston business executive Billy Sullivan was awarded the eighth and final franchise of the developing American Football League; the following winter, locals were allowed to submit ideas for the Boston football team's official name. The most popular choice – and the one that Sullivan selected – was the "Boston Patriots," with "Patriots" referring to those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution and in July 1776 declared the United States of America an independent nation.
Thereafter, artist Phil Bissell of The Boston Globe developed the "Pat Patriot" logo. The Patriots struggled for most of their years in the AFL, they never had a regular home stadium. Nickerson Field, Harvard Stadium, Fenway Park, Alumni Stadium all served as home fields during their time in the American Football League, they played in only one AFL championship game, following the 1963 season, in which they lost to the San Diego Chargers 51–10. They did not appear again in an NFL post-season game for another 13 years; when the NFL and AFL merged in 1970, the Patriots were placed in the American Football Conference East division, where they still play today. The following year, the Patriots moved to a new stadium in Foxborough, which would serve as their home for the next 30 years; as a result of the move, they announced they would change their name from the Boston Patriots to the Bay State Patriots. The name was rejected by the NFL and on March 22, 1971, the team announced they would change its geographic name to New England.
During the 1970s, the Patriots had some success, earning a berth to the playoffs in 1976—as a wild card team—and in 1978—as AFC East champions. They lost in the first round both times. In 1985, they returned to the playoffs, made it all the way to Super Bowl XX, which they lost to the Chicago Bears 46–10. Following their Super Bowl loss, they lost in the first round; the team would not make the playoffs again for eight more years. During the 1990 season, the Patriots went 1–15, they changed ownership three times in the ensuing 14 years, being purchased from the Sullivan family first by Victor Kiam in 1988, who sold the team to James Orthwein in 1992. Though Orthwein's period as owner was short and controversial, he did oversee major changes to the team, first with the hiring of former New York Giants coach Bill Parcells in 1993. Orthwein and his marketing team commissioned the NFL to develop a new visual identity and logo, changed their primary colors from the traditional red and blue to blue and silver for the team uniforms.
Orthwein intended to move the team to his native St. Louis, but instead sold the team in 1994 for $175 million to its current owner, Robert Kraft. Since the Patriots have sold out every home game in both Foxboro Stadium and Gillette Stadium. By 2009, the value of the franchise had increased by over $1 billion, to a Forbes magazine estimated value of $1.361 billion, third highest in the NFL only behind the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. As of July 2018, the Patriots are the sixth most valuable sports franchise in the world according to Forbes magazine with a value of $3.7 billion. Continuing on as head coach under Kraft's ownership, Parcells would bring the Patriots to two playoff appearances, including Super Bowl XXXI, which they lost to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 35–21. Pete Carroll, Parcells's successor, would take the team to the playoffs twice in 1997 and 1998 before being dismissed as head coach after the 1999 season; the Patriots hired current head coach Bill Belichick, who had served as defensive coordinator under Parcells including during Super Bowl XXXI, in 2000.
Their new home field, Gillette Stadium, opened in 2002 to
2007 NFL season
The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League. Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30; the New England Patriots became the first team to complete the regular season undefeated since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978. Four weeks after the playoffs began on January 5, 2008, the Patriots' bid for a perfect season was dashed when they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, the league championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 3, by a score of 17–14; the following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in Phoenix, Arizona during the week of March 25–28: The instant replay system, used since the 1999 season, was made a permanent officiating tool. It was renewed on a biennial basis; the system has been upgraded to use high-definition technology. However, the systems at Texas Stadium, RCA Dome, Giants Stadium did not receive the HDTV updates since those stadiums were scheduled to be replaced in the forthcoming years.
One reason that the technology was improved was that fans with high-definition televisions at home were having better views on replays than the officials and according to Dean Blandino, the NFL's instant replay director "that could have bit us in the rear if we continued." In addition, the amount of time allotted for the referee to review a play was reduced from 90 seconds to one minute. After a play is over, players who spike the ball in the field of play, other than in the end zone, will receive a 5-yard delay of game penalty. Forward passes that unintentionally hit an offensive lineman before an eligible receiver will no longer be an illegal touching penalty, but deliberate actions are still penalized. Roughing-the-passer penalties will not be called on a defender engaged with a quarterback who extends his arms and shoves the passer to the ground. During situations where crowd noise becomes a problem, the offense can no longer ask the referee to reset the play clock, it is necessary to have the ball touch the pylon or break the plane above the pylon to count as a touchdown.
A player just had to have some portion of his body over the goal line or pylon to count a touchdown. A completed catch is now when a receiver has control of the ball. A receiver had to make "a football move" in addition to having control of the ball for a reception. Players will be subject to a fine from the league for playing with an unbuckled chin strap. Officials will not penalize for chin strap violations during a game. John Parry was promoted to referee, replacing Bill Vinovich, forced to resign due to a heart condition. Vinovich would serve as a replay official from 2007 to 2011, he would be given a clean bill of health and return to the field as a referee in 2012. The 2007 season marked the second year of the current television contracts with NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, the NFL Network; the pre-game shows made some changes, with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher joining host James Brown, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino on CBS’ The NFL Today. On Fox, after one season on the road, Fox NFL Sunday returned to Los Angeles as Curt Menefee took over as full-time host.
Chris Rose, doing in-game updates of other NFL games, was reverted to a part-time play-by-play role. The biggest changes were at NBC and ESPN. Michael Irvin’s contract with ESPN was not renewed, former coach Bill Parcells returned to the network after four years as Cowboys head coach. Parcells left. Another pair of former Cowboys, Emmitt Smith and Keyshawn Johnson provided roles in the studio for Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. At Monday Night Football, Joe Theismann was dropped after seventeen years in the booth between the Sunday and Monday Night packages, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and current Philadelphia Soul president Ron Jaworski took his place alongside Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser. Part of the reason that Jaworski replaced Theismann was because of his chemistry with Kornheiser on Pardon the Interruption, where Jaworski was a frequent guest during the football season. NBC’s Football Night in America made two changes. MSNBC Countdown anchor Keith Olbermann joined Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth as another co-host, while Sterling Sharpe exited as a studio analyst, former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber replaced him.
In another change, Faith Hill took over singing “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” for Pink. In the second year of the NFL Network's “Run to the Playoffs”, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders replaced Dick Vermeil for two games when Collinsworth was unavailable. An unforced change saw Bryant Gumbel miss the Broncos–Texans game December 13 due to a sore throat and NBC announcer Tom Hammond step into Gumbel's play-by-play role in what turned out to be more or less a preview of one of NBC's Wild Card Game announcing teams; the dispute between the NFL Network and various cable companies involving the distribution of the cable channel continued throughout the season, getting the attention of government officials when the NFL Network was scheduled to televise two high-profile regular season games: the Packers-Cowboys game on November 29 and the Patriots-Giants game on December 29. In the case of the Packers-Cowboys game, the carriage was so limited that Governor of Wisconsin Jim Doyle went to his brother's house to watch the game on satellite (which is where the majority of the view
NFL Europe
The World League of American Football renamed the NFL Europe League and NFL Europa, was a professional American football league which operated between 1991 and 2007. It was backed by the largest league in the United States; each season culminated with the World Bowl. The World League of American Football was founded in 1989 to serve as a type of spring league. Seven of the ten teams were based in North America, the other three in Europe; this format lasted for two seasons, with no league in 1993–94. The WLAF returned in 1995 with six teams, all in Europe, in 1998 the league was rebranded as the NFL Europe League or NFL Europe, until 2006. For the league's last season, 2007, it changed its name to NFL Europa; the league's squads were predominantly assigned by NFL teams, who wanted these younger, developmental players to get additional game experience and coaching. The NFL assumed the expenses of coaches living in Europe; the European six-team format was maintained for 12 seasons, from 1995 to 2008, but by 2008 five teams were based in Germany.
Making a reported $30 million loss per season, with teams such as the inaugural league champion London Monarchs having gone defunct, on 29 June 2008, the NFL announced the end of NFL Europa. A previous proposed league in the 1970s, the Intercontinental Football League, had contained many elements of the eventual all-European league. West German entrepreneur Adalbert Wetzel and sports coach Bob Kap secured the release of several NFL players to the IFL for a planned 1975 season; the IFL would have involved teams in Barcelona, West Berlin, Munich and Istanbul, but was cancelled due to economic and political problems. The World League of American Football was formed in 1989, by a unanimous vote of NFL owners, as a spring developmental league, the "brainchild" of commissioner Paul Tagliabue; this came after the NFL had played popular American Bowls in London's Wembley Stadium and elsewhere since 1986. Of the 28 NFL teams, 26 paid $50,000 each in start-up costs for the WLAF. Team payrolls and budgets were controlled by the WLAF office but not all teams were owned by the league.
The WLAF was set up as a professional American football league for North America and Europe: six teams from the United States, three European teams, one Canadian team. In 1991 parties in Moscow and Japan expressed an interest in additional franchises. Teams were aligned in three divisions: North American West: Birmingham Fire, Sacramento Surge, San Antonio Riders North American East: Montreal Machine, New York/New Jersey Knights, Orlando Thunder, Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks European: Barcelona Dragons, Frankfurt Galaxy, London MonarchsThe WLAF played two seasons in the spring of 1991 and 1992, with 10 teams playing a 10-game regular season with the World Bowl championship game. Rules unique to WLAF included assigning increasing point value to field goals based on distance, a requirement that at least one player of non-US nationality participate in at least every other series of downs. New ideas were tested, like using the two-point conversion rule on the professional field before adopting it in the NFL in 1994.
Other minor tweaks in gameplay, such as a shorter kickoff tee, were first used in the WLAF. Several technical innovations, such as helmet mounted cameras and one-way radios, enabling coaches to tell plays directly to quarterbacks, were developed; the average game attendance for the first season was 25,361, 24,216 in the second season. The original WLAF was noticed in the United States, having a "minor-league or developmental image" and low TV ratings. In the non-U. S. Cities of London, Barcelona and Montreal, crowds surpassed early expectations; the Monarchs' home attendance led the league, the 1991 World Bowl played at Wembley Stadium was attended by 61,108. In May 1991, the Los Angeles Times's Chris Dufresne said American fans were less than Europeans to "shell out hard-earned dollars for games featuring roster-cut leftovers" and suggested there was a post-USFL backlash in Orlando and San Antonio; the WLAF lost $7 million in 1991. The playoff format consisted of four teams: the three divisional champions, plus a wild card with the best overall non-division winning record.
The two teams emerging from the WLAF semi-final playoffs met at the end of the season in the World Bowl. The first two World Bowl locations were predetermined before the season; the average WLAF salary for 10 games plus playoffs was $40,000, but some of the top players made close to $100,000. Operations of the WLAF were suspended after the 1992 season as the league lost money and the involved NFL owners were not willing to invest more. However, the NFL still needed another pro football league to help their cause in the antitrust and free agency lawsuit with the National Football League Players' Association; the three Europe-based teams dominated in 1991, with a combined 24–6 record, while no North American team managed better than 5–5. The London Monarchs won the World Bowl; the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks lost all 10 games and their franchise, moved to Ohio for 1992. The WLAF's second season was confirmed to go ahead on 23 October 1991, six months before it kicked off. In 1992, fortunes changed and none of the European teams had winning seasons.
Despite this, the European fans remained loyal, but the NFL owners suspended the WLAF after the season. Paul Tagliabue mentioned plans to bring it back with only European teams in 1994. British sports writer Matt Tench cited "an amb
2004 NFL season
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling of two Miami Dolphins home games: the game against the Tennessee Titans was moved up one day to Saturday, September 11 to avoid oncoming Hurricane Ivan, while the game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 26 was moved back 7½ hours to miss the eye of Hurricane Jeanne; the playoffs began on January 8, New England repeated as NFL champions when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24–21 in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Super Bowl championship game, at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6. Due to several incidents during the 2003 NFL season, officials are authorized to penalize excessive celebration; the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty will be marked off from the spot at the end of the previous play or, after a score, on the ensuing kickoff.
If the infraction is ruled flagrant by the officials, the player are ejected. Due to several instances in one game during the 2003–04 playoffs, officials are instructed to enforce illegal contact, pass interference, defensive holding. Timeouts can be called by head coaches. In addition to the numbers 80–89, wide receivers will now be allowed to use numbers 10–19. A punt or missed field goal, untouched by the receiving team is dead once it touches either the end zone or any member of the kicking team in the end zone. A punt or missed field goal that lands in the end zone before being controlled by the kicking team could be picked up by a member of the receiving team and run the other way. Teams will be awarded a third instant replay challenge. Teams were only limited to two regardless of what occurred during the game; the one-bar facemask was outlawed. The few remaining players who still used the one-bar facemask at the time were allowed to continue to use the style until they left the league under a grandfather clause.
Ron Blum returned to line judge, Bill Vinovich was promoted to take his place as referee. Midway through the season, Johnny Grier suffered a leg injury, he was permanently replaced by the back judge on his crew, Scott Green, who had previous experience as a referee in NFL Europe. Baltimore Ravens – Added third alternative uniforms. Black. Cincinnati Bengals – New Uniforms. Indianapolis Colts – Grey facemask. Black shoes. Jacksonville Jaguars – New road uniforms. White uniforms, black numbers with gold and teal trim. New black pants with Jaguars logo on hip. New York Giants – Added third alternative uniforms. Red. Chicago Bears – Added third alternative uniforms. Orange. Metrodome, Minnesota Vikings – AstroTurf was replaced with a new FieldTurf field Arizona Cardinals – Dennis Green replaced Dave McGinnis Atlanta Falcons – Jim Mora, Jr. replaced Wade Phillips who replaced Dan Reeves, fired during the 2003 season Buffalo Bills – Mike Mularkey replaced Gregg Williams Chicago Bears – Lovie Smith replaced Dick Jauron Oakland Raiders – Norv Turner replaced Bill Callahan New York Giants – Tom Coughlin replaced Jim Fassel Washington Redskins – Joe Gibbs replaced Steve Spurrier Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based on better head-to-head record.
N. Y. Jets clinched the AFC #5 seed instead of Denver based on better record in common games. St. Louis clinched the NFC #5 seed instead of Minnesota or New Orleans based on better conference record. Minnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on better head-to-head record. N. Y. Giants finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on better head-to-head record. Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on better head-to-head record. Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams qualified for the playoffs; the four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, the fourth seed hosts the fifth.
The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference receive a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round, while the number 2 seed will play the other team; the two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference; the Miami Dolphins were the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race, having reached a 1–9 record by week 11. * Indicates overtime victory The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season: The Colts led the NFL with 522 points scored. The Colts tallied more points in the first half of each of their games of the 2004 NFL season than seven other NFL teams managed in the entire season. Despite throwing for 49 touchdown passes, Peyton Manning attempted fewer than 500 passes for the first time in his NFL career.
The San Francisco 49ers record 42
Super Bowl ring
The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the winners of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team itself, the Super Bowl ring offers a collectable memento for the actual players and team members to keep for themselves to symbolize their victory. In recent years rings are awarded to members of the team who wins the AFC or NFC championship since they are the winners of the conference though they may not follow it up with a win in the Super Bowl; the NFL provides postseason pay to all players as long as they’ve spent at least three games on their team’s active or inactive list. These rings are made of yellow or rose gold with diamonds, they include the team name, team logo, the phrase "World Champions", the Super Bowl number. Many rings feature diamonds in the shape of the Vince Lombardi Trophy or a football, to illustrate the number of Super Bowls that the franchise has won; the rings are customized with the player's name and uniform number.
The NFL contributes up to $5,000 per ring for up to 150 rings for the winning team. Most rings are manufactured by memorabilia company Jostens; the winning team can present rings to whomever they choose, including but not limited to: players, trainers, executives and general staff. Some teams have given rings to former players and coaches that were on the team at some point during the season, despite not having been on the winning roster for the Super Bowl itself. Sometimes a team will give rings to fans as part of a charity raffle. Teams can distribute any number of rings. A recent trend over the last 15–20 years has been lesser rings awarded to front office staff; these are called "B" and "C" level rings and are smaller and contain fewer diamonds or contain faux diamonds. The first instance of this was the Redskins Super Bowl XVII ring when many in the front office received rings that were not solid gold and contained cubic zirconia stones; when Tampa Bay won Super Bowl XXXVII, the players and coaches received rings with a diamond-centered Lombardi trophy.
Some staff received rings with a metal Lombardi trophy and real diamonds surrounding the trophy and the "C" level ring did not contain any diamonds. The Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XLV ring contained more than 100 diamonds; the Packer logo, in the center of the ring, made up 13 diamonds, one for each title the team has won, dating back to 1929. In a break from tradition, this is the first Super Bowl ring to be made of platinum, not gold; the New England Patriots Super Bowl XLIX rings cost $36,500 each, making them the most expensive rings Jostens has produced at that time, only to be surpassed by the rings awarded for Super Bowl L and Super Bowl LI. The New England Patriots Super Bowl LI ring has 283 diamonds, to commemorate their comeback from being down 28-3 versus the Atlanta Falcons late in the 3rd quarter, to which Falcons owner Arthur Blank confronted Patriots owner Robert Kraft in August 2017 over his perceived "insult-by-karat"; the Philadelphia Eagles's ring for Super Bowl LII contains 127 diamonds on the bezel, the total from the numbers of the jerseys of the three players who handled the ball after the snap on the Philly Special trick play—Corey Clement, Trey Burton and Nick Foles.
Replicas of the rings for various years are popular collectibles, along with genuine rings. Dave Meggett is known to have placed his ring for sale on eBay. Two Super Bowl rings from the 1970 Steelers sold on eBay for over $69,000 apiece in mid-2008. Patriots safety Je'Rod Cherry raffled his ring from Super Bowl XXXVI in November 2008 to benefit several charities working to help children in Africa and Asia. Tight end Shannon Sharpe, gave his first Super Bowl ring to his brother Sterling, who had his career cut short by injury. In 2011, a Super Bowl ring belonging to Steve Wright, a lineman for the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s, sold for over $73,000 at auction. Three Super Bowl rings belonging to former Raiders' punter Ray Guy brought over $96,000 at auction. In 2012, Lawrence Taylor's son sold his father's Super Bowl ring from 1990 for more than $250,000. In 2005, a minor international incident was caused when it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had taken a Super Bowl ring from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft issued a statement saying that he had given Putin the ring out of "respect and admiration" he had for the Russian people and Putin's leadership. Kraft said his earlier statement was not true, had been issued under pressure from the White House; the ring is on display at the Kremlin, along with other "gifts". Eight: one person. Bill Belichick: two as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants and six as head coach of New England Patriots Seven: one person. Neal Dahlen: five with San Francisco 49ers and two with Denver Broncos Six: eleven people. Tom Brady, six as starting quarterback with New England Patriots, earning the most rings in NFL history as a player in any position, he won all six playing for one team. Robert Kraft, six as owner of New England Patriots Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II: each as an executive with Pittsburgh Steelers Chuck Noll: four as head coach and two as a team consultant with Pittsburgh Steelers Josh McDaniels has won six with the New England Patriots his first as personnel assistant, second as defensive coaching assistant, third as quarterbacks coach and his fourth, fifth, a
Tom Coughlin
Thomas Richard Coughlin is the executive vice president of football operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was the head coach for the New York Giants for 12 seasons, he led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both times against the New England Patriots. Coughlin was the inaugural head coach of the Jaguars, serving from 1995 to 2002 and leading the team to two AFC Championship Games. Prior to his head coaching career in the NFL, he was head coach of the Boston College Eagles football team from 1991 to 1993, served in a variety of coaching positions in the NFL as well as coaching and administrative positions in college football. Coughlin was born in Waterloo, NY in 1946, played football and basketball in high school, he once played a high school basketball game against Jim Boeheim, who played for Lyons High School at the time. He wished to play at Syracuse. Coughlin attended Syracuse University when he was offered a scholarship by assistant coach Jim Shreve.
He played halfback for the Syracuse Orange football team. Coughlin was teammates with Floyd Little. In 1967, he set. Jim Boeheim was Coughlin's residence advisor during Coughlin's senior year at Syracuse, he stayed at Syracuse after graduation and obtained his master's degree while working as a graduate assistant. Coughlin was mentored by Bill Parcells while Coughlin was wide receivers coach and Parcells was head coach for the New York Giants. Like his mentor, Coughlin is known as a stern disciplinarian and for his meticulous attention to detail, earning him the nickname "Colonel Coughlin". Coughlin's record and three Super Bowl titles put him in history as one of the greatest coaches of all time. Coughlin's first head coaching job was at the Rochester Institute of Technology from 1970 to 1973, he returned to his alma mater where he was promoted to offensive coordinator, a position he held at Boston College where he coached Doug Flutie. He returned to the staff after his stint at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Coughlin's second stint started in 1974, ended in 1980. He left the collegiate level to become a wide receivers coach in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. While at New York, he was an assistant to Bill Parcells, helped the Giants win Super Bowl XXV. Coughlin and Parcells have both made the NFL playoffs five times as Giants head coach, the two Super Bowl titles they each have won with the Giants have occurred in their fourth and eighth seasons with the franchise, respectively. After the 1990 season, Coughlin returned to Boston College to take on his second job as a head coach. In three seasons at Boston College, he turned the program into a consistent winner. Coughlin's tenure was capped with a 41–39 victory over #1 ranked Notre Dame in 1993, the first time Boston College defeated Notre Dame. Coughlin's success at Boston College led to his subsequent hiring as the first head coach of the NFL's expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. In eight seasons at Jacksonville, he helmed the most successful expansion team in league history.
During Coughlin's tenure, the Jaguars made four consecutive playoff appearances and went to the AFC Championship Game twice. The first time, in only the second year of the team's existence, the Jaguars qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the season and upset the favored Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos on the road, he was named NFL Coach of the Year by United Press International. Coughlin would again take the Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game in 1999 after achieving a league-high 14–2 regular season record. However, in both appearances in the championship game, the Jaguars were defeated: in 1996 by the New England Patriots, in 1999, by the Tennessee Titans. Both the losses in the Jaguars' 14-2 1999 regular season were to the Titans. Coughlin's Jaguars won 49 regular season games in his first five years as head coach, a remarkable average for an expansion team of nearly ten wins per year, but the Jaguars' record for the next three years was only 19–29, after a 6–10 finish in 2002, Coughlin was fired by owner Wayne Weaver.
He finished his eight-year career in Jacksonville with a 68–60 regular season record and a 4–4 playoff record. In 2011, after selling the Jaguars to Shahid Khan, Weaver said when looking back on his tenure as owner, one of his biggest regrets was firing Coughlin. After being out of football in 2003, Coughlin was hired to replace Jim Fassel as head coach of the New York Giants in January 2004, he inherited a team that finished 4–12 in 2003. As Coughlin took over, the Giants were trying to put together a trade for the first pick in the draft; that year, the San Diego Chargers held that pick, the expected selection was Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning, who had made his desire clear that he wanted to play for the Giants. On draft day the Giants drafted NC State's Philip Rivers with the fourth pick and traded him to the Chargers for Manning. Coughlin's incumbent quarterback, Kerry Collins, was incensed by the move and demanded his release, leaving the team without a veteran who could hold the fort until Manning was ready.
To fill that role the Giants signed Kurt Warner, the former Super Bowl MVP, cut by the St. Louis Rams after he lost his starting job to Marc Bulger. Behind Warne
Kentucky Wildcats football
The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference; the Wildcats play their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington and are led by head coach Mark Stoops. Until about 1913, the modern University of Kentucky was referred to as "Kentucky State College" and nearby Transylvania University was known as "Kentucky University". In 1880, Kentucky University and Centre College played the first intercollegiate football game in Kentucky. Kentucky State first fielded a football team in 1881, playing three games against rival Kentucky University; the team was revived in 1891. Both the inaugural 1881 squad and the revived 1891 squad have unknown coaches according to university records in winning two games and losing three; the 1891 team's colors were blue and light yellow, decided before the Centre–Kentucky game on December 19.
A student asked "What color blue?" and varsity letterman Richard C. Stoll pulled off his necktie, held it up; this is still held as the origin of Kentucky's shade of blue. The next year light yellow was changed to white; the 1892 team was coached by A. M. Miller, went 2–4–1; the greatest UK team of this era was the 1898 squad, known to Kentuckians as "The Immortals." To this day, the Immortals remain the only undefeated and unscored upon team in UK football history. The Immortals were coached by W. R. Bass and ended the year a perfect 7–0–0, despite an average weight of 147 pounds per player. Victories came for this squad, as the Immortals raced by Kentucky University, Company H of the 8th Massachusetts, Louisville Athletic Club, Centre, 160th Indiana and Newcastle Athletic Club. Head coach Jack Wright led the team to a 7–1 record in 1903, losing only to rival and southern champion Kentucky University. Fred Schacht died unexpectedly after his second season. J. White Guyn had success leading the Wildcats, posting a 17–7–1 record in his three years.
Edwin Sweetland resigned due to poor health. Sweetland served as Kentucky's first athletics director; the 1909 team upset the Illinois Fighting Illini. Upon their welcome home, Philip Carbusier said that they had "fought like wildcats," a nickname that stuck. John J. Tigert coached Kentucky for two seasons with each season having one loss. 1915 captain Charles C. Schrader was All-Southern; the 1916 team fought the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association co-champion Tennessee Volunteers to a scoreless tie. The year's only a loss, 45 to 0 to the Irby Curry-led Vanderbilt Commodores, was the dedication of Stoll Field. Quarterbacks Curry and Kentucky's Doc Rodes were both selected All-Southern at year's end. Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin stated "If you would give me Doc Rodes, I would say he was a greater player than Curry."Coach Harry Gamage had a 32–25–5 record during his seven seasons from 1927 to 1933. A. D. Kirwan, who would go on to be the president of the university, coached the Wildcats from 1938 to 1944 and posted a 24–28–4 record in those six seasons.
Longtime athletics director Bernie Shively served as Kentucky's head football coach for the 1945 season. Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was Kentucky's head football coach for eight seasons. Bear Bryant came to Kentucky from Maryland. Under Bryant's tutelage, the Wildcats won the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl, lost the 1950 Orange Bowl, won the 1951 Sugar Bowl and the 1952 Cotton Bowl Classic. In final AP polls, the Wildcats were ranked No. 11 in 1949, No. 7 in 1950, No. 15 in 1951, No. 20 in 1952 and No. 16 in 1953. The final 1950 poll was taken prior to the bowl games. Bryant won SEC Coach of the Year honors in 1950 and left after eight seasons to accept the head football coach position at Texas A&M. Assistant coaches at Kentucky under Bryant who went on to become head coaches include Paul Dietzel, Frank Moseley, Jim Owens and Phil Cutchin. Notable players who played for Bryant at Kentucky include Howard Schnellenberger, Jim Mackenzie, Jerry Claiborne, Steve Meilinger, George Blanda, Vito Parilli, Bob Gain.
Cleveland Browns assistant Blanton Collier was hired to replace Bryant as head football coach at Kentucky in late 1953. After completing his first season at Kentucky, Collier was named SEC Coach of the Year after posting a 7–2 record. Collier's assistants during his tenure at Kentucky included the likes of Bill Arnsparger, Chuck Knox, Howard Schnellenberger, Don Shula. Despite having a winning record, 41–36–3 in eight seasons, Collier was fired. Collier struggled to recruit for much of his tenure, about which frustrated fans wrote letters of complaint to the university. Collier is the last Kentucky head football coach to leave the Wildcats with a winning record. Charlie Bradshaw, an Alabama assistant under Bear Bryant, was hired to replace the fired Collier. Despite all the hype about being a Bear Bryant assistant, Bradshaw's tenure turned out to be a disappointment, as he was unable to have much success with the Wildcats, he had a 25–41–5 record in seven seasons. Bradshaw is the last Kentucky coach to defeat Tennessee twice in Knoxville, the last Kentucky coach to defeat Auburn twice.
He was the last to defeat a No. 1 ranked team in the country until Rich Brooks in 2007. Bradshaw, a harsh, brutal coach, was the head coach of the infamous Thin Thirty Kentucky team. Kentucky had 88 players when Bradshaw arrived, but b
