Tom Coughlin opens up about helping guide John Harbaugh to Giants

While the New York Giants were courting John Harbaugh to be their next head coach, a report revealed that former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin had reached out to Harbaugh. 

Following a hiring process that lasted longer than expected, the Giants were able to (finally) publicly introduce Harbaugh as their next coach on Tuesday. On the latest edition of the Giants Huddle podcast, Coughlin touched upon what he and Harbaugh spoke about after the Baltimore Ravens fired Harbaugh on Jan. 6.

John Harbaugh looked to Tom Coughlin for advice after being fired by Ravens

"John’s a friend of mine," Coughlin explained, per Joe DeLeone of A to Z Sports. "And I texted John when he was let go by the Baltimore Ravens...to congratulate him on his run, tremendous run with the Baltimore Ravens. And John came back to me, and at the bottom of his little paragraph, he said, 'And by the way, if you have a minute, I could use some advice.'" 

It is now no secret that Harbaugh always wanted to pick the Giants over the Tennessee Titans and the Atlanta Falcons. As for Coughlin, he's quite familiar with Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch. Coughlin famously guided the Giants to a pair of Super Bowl titles while serving as Big Blue's head coach from 2004 through the 2015 season. 

As Manny Gomez shared for NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Coughlin discussed "the Giants' organizational structure and ownership dynamics involving the Mara and Tisch families" with Harbaugh. That structure now involves Harbaugh reporting directly to Mara and not to general manager Joe Schoen. 

Tom Coughlin was a big part of John Harbaugh's "investigation" of the Giants

"Basically, what happened was just as if any friend or anyone would call me and ask me about the New York Giants, that’s where the conversations all began," Coughlin continued. "And then it involved further conversations. You mentioned two. There’s more than two. But they were always of a nature of John in his own way, trying to do his investigation, if you will, of the New York Giants franchise."

In short, it sounds like Giants fans will have even more reasons to give Coughlin a standing ovation the next time he is shown at a home game.