Tom Coughlin is a former professional football executive and coach. Coughlin attended Syracuse University when he was offered a scholarship by assistant coach Jim Shreve. He played halfback and in 1967, he set the school's single-season pass receiving record. Jim Boeheim was Coughlin's residence advisor (RA) during Coughlin's senior year at Syracuse.

He was the head coach for the New York Giants for 12 seasons. He led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both times against the New England Patriots. Coughlin was also the inaugural head coach of the Jaguars, serving from 1995 to 2002 and leading the team to two AFC Championship Games. Prior to his head coaching career in the NFL, he was head coach of the Boston College Eagles football team from 1991 to 1993, and served in a variety of coaching positions in the NFL as well as coaching and administrative positions in college football.  He stayed at Syracuse after graduation and obtained his master's degree while working as a graduate assistant. 

In July 2016, Coughlin was hired to be a senior advisor to the NFL's football operations department. Later that year, Coughlin was inducted into the Giants' "Ring of Honor". In January 2017, it was revealed that Coughlin had been re-hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars to be the team's executive vice president for football operations.