By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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For arguably the NFL’s best, his head coaching career started at Boston College.

With two Super Bowl championships, both wins coming over Bill Belichick, and control of the NFL’s top franchise, Tom Coughlin has become the game’s new standard-setter. Years after his career seemingly and suddenly took a downturn in Jacksonville, Coughlin likely solidified himself as a future Hall of Famer late Sunday night in Indianapolis.

While most are now well-aware of his Giant accomplishments, few may know of his college past. Though Coughlin beat New England in the Super Bowl for the second time of his career, he was once head football coach in Beantown. From 1991 to 1993, Coughlin successfully led the Boston College Eagles.

Taking over for Jack Bicknell, Sr., Coughlin inherited a program that lost four straight games to end 1990 and did not score over 12 points a single one of those outings. It took time to turn things around in his debut, but Coughlin’s Eagles won three of five down the stretch in 1991 and nearly upset to Miami in their late November finale. The following year, Coughlin’s plan began to take shape. Boston College raced to a 7-0-1 start, a tie coming against West Virginia. The Eagles finished 8-3-1, falling to Tennessee in the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Coughlin’s last season in Chesnut Hill would prove to be a memorable one. His team would win the school’s fourth bowl game, would finish with the third-most wins at the program ever and would help write history as college football determined a national champion. An 0-2 start with a stunning loss at Northwestern dampened expectations, but Coughlin’s resolve stayed strong. Boston College would rally to beat Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh en route to a “Holy War” showdown with top-ranked rival Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish, having edged previous number one Florida State, were the odds on favorite to win it all. Hosting BC, few expected anything more than a lopsided victory. To that point, the Eagles had never beaten Notre Dame. The Irish won the previous meeting that past fall by a score of 54-7. Boston College instead played perhaps their best game ever, especially early on. The Eagles soared to a stunning 38-17 fourth quarter lead before a furious Notre Dame comeback had the Irish clinging to a one-point lead advantage. As BC kicker David Gordon lined up for a 41-yard field goal, the nation waited with anticipation. Gordon proved true, sending New England into euphoria and the Irish out of the title race.

The upset was a historic one for Boston College. It was the Eagles’ first-ever defeat of Notre Dame, it helped them clinch a Carquest Bowl bid against Virginia and earned BC a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It also propelled Florida State back to the top of the polls, helping the Seminoles win their first national championship. The irony there is considerable as FSU’s title proved to be a tremendous boost for the ACC, Boston College’s new home conference.

“Remember Kez McCorvey, the receiver from Florida State?” former BC linebacker Stephen Boyd, who blocked a kick in the ND game, once said. “We played on the Lions in my last two years in the NFL. He used to thank me…every day.”

That win also helped Coughlin secure his opportunity in Jacksonville as he became the expansion Jaguars’ debut head football coach. There he would go on to lead the most successful expansion team in NFL history. Coughlin would take Jacksonville to the AFC Championship Game in 1996 and earned NFL Coach of the Year honors that season for his efforts. After a 14-2 regular season, Coughlin would take the Jaguars to within one game of the Super Bowl once more in 1999.

”The No. 1 thing will be to have a group of people all there for the same purpose, people who can honestly say their objective is going to be to improve on a weekly basis,” Coughlin told the Orlando Sentinel after being hired by Jacksonville. ”That’s where you start.”

For arguably the NFL’s best, his head coaching career started at Boston College. Coughlin has two Super Bowl championships and, with young talent on his New York roster, may win more. As his time at BC continues to fade in the past, it’s significance should not be lost. Coughlin may now be known for beating Boston, though in many ways that’s where he began.