Tom Coughlin stepped down from his post as the New York Giants head coach on Tuesday. "It's been an honor and a privilege for me," he said.
His 18-minute farewell press conference is a window into Coughlin's 12-year run as the head coach: pure, unadulterated class.
"In professional football, the goal is to win. We all know that. It's a bottom-line profession, we understand that completely. But my contention is... there is a higher ground. There's a greater purpose," Coughlin said, his voice rising to his typical front-of-the-meeting-room timbre. "That purpose is team. It is the team concept. Winning, losing, playing hard, playing well, winning the right way, is a very, very important thing to me and to all of our coaches.
"While it is the job of the head coach to get the technical football right, to make sure the X's and O's are efficient, to make sure the players have a great plan, and that plan allows them to go forth and have a chance to win games, it is our duty to equip these men with the virtues that will last a lifetime, the values that like honesty, trust, responsibility, respect, service and integrity. Those are the things that we teach in addition to the football."
Carve time out of your day to watch this thing.
WATCH IN FULL: Tom Coughlin's farewell press conference #Giants#GiantsPride#ThanksTChttps://t.co/aL9y8cDWH6
— New York Giants (@Giants) January 5, 2016