JETS+AND+GIANTS

**Two New York coaches**

"One, Jets' coach Rex Ryan, is big, brash and seems to go out of his way to stir up trouble…. The other, Giants coach Tom Coughlin, is smaller, tight-lipped and makes discipline - his own and others' - a central tenet of his reign. It's tough to imagine a pair of coaches more opposite in style, yet Rex Ryan and Tom Coughlin share the crucible of the metro region, share a stadium and … share[d] a game that neither team c[ould] … afford to lose.

[|http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2011/12/giants-jets_hot_topic_whos_the.html]

**On coach Ryan**

**Quote 1:** "Rex Ryan has made a career out of talking smack without backing it up, and Saturday afternoon in a home game against the team that shares his stadium, the Jets coach added another chapter to his long legacy of not getting the job done. Ryan's team failed to deliver on its coach's empty promises once again, and once again, it was all his fault. As he is wont to do, Ryan ran his mouth ad nauseum in the days leading up to the Jets' first showdown with the New York Giants since 2007 - guaranteeing a victory and declaring to the world that his team was the best in the city - but when the bitter rivals finally took the field, the Giants punched Ryan's loud mouth in. Not literally - but almost.….

And it's that very talking - that baseless arrogance for which Ryan has become known - that cost Ryan and his team this game and may someday cost him his job…. Ryan's loud mouth does nothing but fuel every team the Jets play, and the Jets simply aren't talented enough to back up what their coach is saying. And as long as Ryan keeps talking, his team is going to stay stuck in neutral. …." [|http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/New-York-Jets-Rex-Ryan-needs-to-learn-to-shut-his-mouth-122411]

**Quote 2:** "Ryan's Jets, meanwhile, continued to demonstrate what has become a trademark knack of shooting themselves in the foot, which would seem to begin with their coach's habit of firing blindfolded from the mouth. Ryan capped his team's comedy of pre-Christmas errors Saturday by getting into a postgame shouting match with Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, who at one point in the exchange told him, 'Time to shut up, fat boy.'

The flying insults were thoroughly entertaining and all in an emotional vortex. But a coach should hold himself to a higher standard than getting into ineloquent squabbles with players and fans. If the Jets don't make the playoffs, and the chances are slim, Ryan will need to spend the off-season considering the likelihood that his team's disturbing lack of discipline … begins with him." []

**Quote 3:** "The Jets have had more than their share of controversy during the Ryan regime, much of it brought on by Ryan or made worse by his handling of it. Strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi tripped a Dolphins player near the sidelines during a game, only to have Ryan claim that he was unaware of the practices Alosi had implemented. Ryan's purported unawareness of what was going on with his own team came up again more recently when he contended he was unaware that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenhemier had pulled Santonio Holmes off the field during a critical drive in the last game of the season." [|http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-league/post/rex-ryan-new-york-jets-are-in-disarray/2010/12/20/gIQA9YjFuP_blog.html]

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Quote 4:**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"The New York Giants arrived at their own stadium [the one they share with the Jets] to the type of frosty welcome usually reserved for a road team. The mural of the Giants' Super Bowl trophies and logos on the wall in front of their locker room had been covered by black curtains.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rex Ryan didn't just want the Giants to know that the Jets were better than them. He wanted them to feel like an outsider in the home they share with the Jets. Unfortunately for Rex, it all backfired, playing right into Tom Coughlin's hands. The Giants, a team capable of flat-lining emotionally on any given Sunday (or in this case Saturday), played this game like it was an in-state college rivalry." <span style="color: #da6819; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://espn.go.com/new-york/NFL/story/_/id/7387054/new-york-giants-were-rejuvenated-trash-talk-rex-ryan-new-york-jets]

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**On coach Coughlin**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Quote 1:** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"[Before the game] Coughlin was sitting down with Justin Tuck, or the mummified remains of Justin Tuck, and stirring the pride of a football player by touching the heart of a man. 'Give me all that you have,' Coughlin told Tuck, who went on and on Saturday evening about their little fireside chat, a conversation that threw open a window on Coughlin's 29-14 conquest of Ryan [the Jets coach].

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When he was done serving as the Giants' king of pain, ignoring all of his bumps and bruises to honor a distinguished past, Tuck humanized Coughlin, spoke of him in endearing terms. He said it meant a ton that his coach took time out of his hectic schedule to meet with him, 'to let me know he was thinking about me and how I was feeling.' The same coach was once widely criticized for his tense, distant, and unforgiving approach. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"That did a number on me," Tuck said of the meeting. "You start thinking about a lot of stuff. You start thinking about your legacy. ... I've got a 21-month-old at home, and I want him to see me play the game the right way." <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, Coughlin got Tuck to play the right way, the way the pass rusher played when the Giants won it all. "He challenged me to lead this team," Tuck said, "and I think I did a good job of responding." <span style="color: #da6819; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://espn.go.com/new-York/NFL/story/_/id/7387053/new-york-giants-coach-tom-coughlin-outclassed-new-york-jets-coach-rex-ryan-all-week-including-saturday]

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Quote 2:** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Let's give Coughlin, the old curmudgeon, the credit he deserves in the wake of the Giants' 29-14 victory over Rex Ryan's Jets on Saturday at MetLife Stadium. Coughlin endured Ryan's mouthy forecasts, the mounting possibility and pressure of facing unemployment, and the pain of a late-game sideline collision with his running back D. J. Ware. …

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The old-school Coughlin had reacted to the standard Ryan braggadocio early last week by saying that the ultimate statement would be made on the field. 'We won the game," he said, "that's the statement.' []

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Quote 3:** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Coughlin may have done one of his best coaching jobs of the season as well. The Giants had an outstanding week of practice. Several injured Giants practiced on Wednesday, even on a limited basis, to try to set the tone early, as Antrel Rolle had hoped for after last week's Washington debacle. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Coughlin also had a sitdown during the week with defensive captain Justin Tuck, who played his best game of the season with four tackles, one sack and two batted-down passes. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And late in the fourth quarter, Coughlin took a shot to his left leg when running back D.J. Ware was inadvertently shoved into him on the sideline during a run. To no one's surprise, the 65-year-old coach who preaches about toughness sat out a couple of plays to get his leg checked but then returned to the sideline and finished coaching the Giants to a season-extending victory over the Jets." <span style="color: #da6819; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://espn.go.com/new-York/NFL/story/_/id/7387054/new-york-giants-were-rejuvenated-trash-talk-rex-ryan-new-york-jets] >  >
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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Discuss similarities and differences between these two men.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Was there anything that surprised you?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. How would you summarize Rex Ryan's approach?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. How would you summarize Tom Coughlin's approach?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. How does this relate to leadership in general?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. What are some of the characteristics you'd like to see in a leader?