Running back Tiki Barber was a talented but inconsistent player - a veritable fumbling machine, if you will - with the New York Giants before Coach Tom Coughlin arrived and worked with him on developing three points of contact with the ball, helping him to revive his career and become one of the more exciting and dependable backs in the league. With Coughlin, Barber posted his three best professional seasons, with over 1,500 yards rushing and 2,000 yards from scrimmage each year.
The two also butted heads quite often during their shared tenure with the New York Football Giants, but still, that kind of aid and eventual career resurgence has to count for something, right? Right!?
In the long run, apparently not, as Barber, in a conversation with The Beast 980 in Los Angeles said that he thinks Coughlin's 11th season with the Giants should be his last, according to Howie Kussoy of the New York Post.
"The Giants players are not listening to Tom Coughlin anymore," Barber said.
Barber said the organization lacks creativity and suffers from poor play-calling, which he believes are the hallmarks of a team that doesn't have confidence in its personnel.
He also pointed to the consistent manner in which assistant coaches have taken heat in recent seasons while Coughlin, the man at the helm of the franchise, has largely avoided blame, as a significant issue.
"As much as they want to pass the buck and 'Oh, it was the offensive coordinator, let's get rid of Kevin Gilbride and bring in Ben McAdoo.' And: 'Oh, now it's the defensive coordinator, so maybe it's time to get rid of Perry Fewell.' At some point, it trickles uphill and it has to be Tom Coughlin's responsibility. And it is time - and I've held off from saying this - for them to make a change [at head coach]."
The Giants, after losing this past weekend to the San Francisco 49ers, have now lost five consecutive games, dropping them to 3-7, their worst start in Coughlin's decade-plus career.
If things continue on in the current manner, Barber, and, no doubt, many fed up fans in New York, may very well get their wish.
