Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and head coach Tom Coughlin never really got along during their three seasons together. Their disagreements have been well-documented, but Barber has supposedly attempted to reconcile with Coughlin in recent years and been shut down.
While co-hosting “The Morning Show” on CBS Sports Radio Thursday morning, Barber provided some detail about what his relationship with Coughlin was like toward the end of his career in New York. One of their feuds took place after Barber told reporters the Giants needed to run the ball more following a 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2006.
“Tom Coughlin comes into my meeting room and he has all these newspapers and throws them in my face,” Barber said. “Like, physically, in my face. … He said, ‘What the F is this?‘ and throws them in my face.”
Barber, who said he was simply stating the truth about the team needing to hand the ball of more, said he responded to Coughlin with “like a thousand” F-bombs.
“Long story short, we ended up yelling at each other for 40 minutes,” he said. “Running backs left, the (offensive) linemen were next door, defensive linemen were on the other side. And at the end, I said, ‘You know what? I’m out of here.’”
Barber added that the only time he got along with Coughlin was on game days. Coughlin is known for being a hard-nosed coach, and that attitude clearly bothered Barber.
“Tell me, ‘do something because I say so’?” Barber recalled. “I’m not going to accept that.”
Coughlin is the head coach, so it was Barber’s job to accept that. The former Pro Bowler looks bad every time he criticizes Coughlin, simply because the team went on to win two Super Bowls after he retired. Stories about Coughlin acting like an a-hole do nothing to change that.
H/T LBS tipster David
