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Syracuse, N.Y. — Tom Coughlin was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame on Monday after a lifetime in the game of football. The Waterloo native was able to live his childhood dream of playing and coaching in Syracuse before becoming a two-time Super Bowl champion as head coach of the New York Giants. He was able to return home to Syracuse for Monday’s ceremony to be honored in the place where everything started. “As a kid, the only thing I wanted to do is go to Syracuse University and play for Ben Schwartzwalder,” Coughlin said before Monday’s ceremony at the OnCenter. “I used to watch the ‘Ben Schwartzwalder Show’ every Thursday night on black and white TV at the time. And so even more and more excited just being here. What an honor it is to be part of this community and be recognized as such.” Coughlin, 79, was a three-year letter-winner from 1965-67, playing on teams that featured Orange legends Floyd Little and Larry Csonka. He later went on to serve as a graduate assistant, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Syracuse before embarking on his NFL career. On top of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, Coughlin is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his third year on the ballot. Along with his two Super Bowl wins, Coughlin led the Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars to seven more playoff appearances and finished his career with five division titles. Despite all of his NFL success, though, Coughlin credited his first head coaching gig at Rochester Institute of Technology for the career he carved out for himself. “I was 23 coaching guys that were 18,” Coughlin said. “They weren’t receiving any money. They just wanted to play. So, the passion that they came to the game with, we were very mediocre, to be honest, but the players loved to play.” The RIT program started off as a club program when Coughlin arrived. By the time he left, it was a Division III varsity program. “They took tough coaching,” Coughlin said. “They tell me that that helped them in their careers in the professional world.” Coughlin had three tables worth of former RIT players in attendance Monday, along with former Syracuse teammates and other family and friends. Since stepping away from the NFL, Coughlin has had the opportunity to be around the Syracuse football program. He recently bought a lake house in Lodi on the banks of Seneca Lake, just 50 miles southwest of Syracuse. Coughlin was on campus for Fran Brown’s spring coaching clinic, in which he was the keynote speaker. He was able to get an intimate look at the Orange and liked what he saw as a whole. “He’s the right guy for the right job,” Coughlin said of Brown. “I love watching him coach. He’s firm, but he loves his guys.”
