Giant Slide Costs Fassel His Job

Coach Jim Fassel knew what was coming. He would be fired after a season that began with Super Bowl hopes but turned into an embarrassment.

So, he figured, why wait?

He asked the New York Giants to announce his firing now and allow him to coach the final two games of the season. They agreed.

“It’s time. They need a change, I need a change. It’s the right thing to do,” Fassel said Wednesday.

After weeks of speculation about his future, Fassel requested a meeting with the owners Tuesday. That’s when he was told his seven-year tenure with the team was over.

Fassel leaves as the third winningest coach (60-54-1) in the Giants’ 79-year history -- behind only Steve Owen and Bill Parcells.

Fassel faces Parcells’ new team in Dallas on Sunday, trying to prevent the Cowboys from clinching a playoff berth.

A Super Bowl team three seasons ago, the Giants (4-10) were expected to contend again this year but have dropped six consecutive games to fall to last place in the NFC East. It’s the team’s longest losing streak in 10 years.

The low point came Sunday night with a 45-7 loss in New Orleans, the Giants’ worst regular-season defeat since 1973.

“We’re a franchise in trouble now,” said John Mara, the Giants’ executive vice president and son of owner Wellington Mara. “We just need to make the right decision.”

General Manager Ernie Accorsi said the team has a list of potential replacements, but there is no timetable for hiring a new coach.

Among the possible successors to Fassel are Louisiana State Coach Nick Saban, former Jacksonville Jaguar coach Tom Coughlin, and the New England Patriots’ two coordinators: Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis. Coughlin, Crennel and Weis were Giant assistants under Parcells.

The timing of the announcement caught players off guard.

“I was hoping beyond hope that he would stay,” running back Tiki Barber said. “To hear this is tough for me, it really is. He’s the only coach I know. And he really has been an inspiration to me. I owe him my career.”

Fassel has a year left on a contract that will pay him $2.7 million next season. He said he wants to coach again, however, and wouldn’t mind being back on the job next year.