NFL Black Monday: Giants’ Coughlin steps down; Titans fire GM Webster

Tom Coughlin has resigned as coach of the New York Giants after 12 seasons and two Super Bowl wins.

Coughlin, 69, met with Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch on Monday and said he informed them it was in the best interest of the franchise for him to step down.

“I strongly believe the time is right for me and my family, and as I said, the Giants organization,” Coughlin said in a written statement.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as head coach of the New York Football Giants. This is a not a sad occasion for me. I have spent 15 years with this organization as an assistant and head coach and was fortunate to be part of three Super Bowl winning teams. A Lombardi Trophy every five years is an achievement in which we all take great pride.”

Coughlin, who was the NFL’s oldest active coach, had a 192-102 record with the team and twice beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowls. He was hired in 2004 to replace the fired Jim Fassel, and the Giants made the playoffs in four of his first five seasons.

This season’s Giants finished 6-10 and failed to reach the postseason for the fourth consecutive year. The team finished 9-7, 7-9, 6-10 and 6-10 since winning the Super Bowl in Indianapolis at the end of the 2011 season.

“Obviously, the past three years have not been what any of us expect, and as head coach, I accept the responsibility for those seasons,” Coughlin said.

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Coughlin had an 8-3 record in the postseason, matching that of former Giants coach Bill Parcells, who is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“He’s been a great coach to play for, and I’ve learned so much from him, from an early age when I got here to every year,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said of Coughlin. “Just continued to meet with him and talk football and X’s and O’s and strategies, and he’s got a great football mind and loves what he’s doing and a great passion. And it’s a great example of how you should handle your job and love what you’re doing.”

Webster out as Titans GM

The Tennessee Titans have fired Ruston Webster, the team’s executive vice president and general manager.

Ruston Webster, left, chats with Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk before a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 6 in Nashville.

(Mark Zaleski / Associated Press)

The Titans, who lost to Indianapolis on Sunday to finish a league-worst 3-13, have the No. 1 pick in this spring’s draft. The club had the No. 2 pick last year and selected Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Interim Coach Mike Mularkey, who replaced the fired Ken Whisenhunt during the season, is a candidate for the position of permanent coach, the team said Monday in a news release.

Webster spent four seasons as Titans GM, during which the team finished 6-10, 7-9, 2-14 and 3-13.

Amy Adams Strunk, the team’s controlling owner, thanked Webster and called him “a man of great character and integrity.”

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“Our mission is to become one of the elite franchises in the National Football League, and we have fallen short of this goal in recent years,” Strunk said in a written statement, adding, “We share our fans’ frustration about the team’s recent performance, and we are committed to doing everything we can to return our team to a perennial postseason contender.”

McCoy is safe in San Diego

The San Diego Chargers have informed Coach Mike McCoy that he will be staying with the team for next season, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

According to the report, which cites an unnamed source, McCoy was told that he is safe but that “substantial changes” are coming to the coaching staff as early as Monday.

McCoy, in his third year of a four-year deal he signed when hired in 2013, saw his team go 4-12 this season and finish at the bottom of the AFC West. Nine of those 12 losses were one-score games.

The Chargers finished 9-7 in each of McCoy’s first and second seasons, including winning a wild-card playoff game at Cincinnati during the 2013 season before losing a divisional game at Denver.

Browns, 49ers jump into action Sunday

The Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers didn’t wait around for Black Monday. They fired their coaches Sunday night.

The Browns parted ways with Mike Pettine after two seasons, and the 49ers got rid of Jim Tomsula after one.

The Browns, who finished 3-13, fired Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer after a 28-12 home loss to Pittsburgh.

The 49ers, who closed with a 19-16 overtime victory at home against St. Louis, were 5-11 in Tomsula’s lone season.

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