Giants STC Thomas McGaughey to Match Wits with Old Friend Larry Izzo

McGaughey and Izzo have a friendship that goes back several years. They'll put their respective special teams units against each other on Monday night.

New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey will probably be the first to admit that his unit's miscues in last year's meeting against the Seattle Seahawks contributed to the Giants losing that game, 27-13.

But other than to hope that the same miscues, such as two muffed punts and missed tackles in coverage, don't re-occur with new faces running the plays, McGaughey dismissed the idea of looking at the film and learning much from last season's special teams miscues against the Seahawks because of the personnel turnover on both squads.

"It’s a totally different team, different returner back there," he said Friday. "They have a different set of guys. We have a different set of guys, and it's a new opportunity, a new year." 

It's a chance for McGaughey's unit to get better. And while last year's tape might not be of much help on the micro level, some things can be learned on a larger scale.

"The stuff that we can take from last year schematically because (Seahawks Special Teams Coordinator) Larry Izzo was still there last year, we'll look at it and be ready for some of those same things that will come about, but you don't harp on it. You just move on."

Giants fans might remember Izzo, who served as the team's assistant special teams coordinator from 2011-2015. Izzo, who, during his playing career with Miami (1996-2000), New England (2001-2008), and the Jets (2009), was a special teams standout voted to three Pro Bowls.

He's brought that expertise to a coaching career that, after his stint with the Giants, continued with Houston (2016-2017) and Seattle (2018-present), with him being named the Seahawks' lead special teams coordinator in 2021.

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"The stuff that we can take from last year schematically because (Seahawks Special Teams Coordinator) Larry Izzo was still there last year, we'll look at it and be ready for some of those same things that will come about, but you don't harp on it. You just move on."

It seems like it has been almost impossible for McGaughey, who counts Izzo as a friend, to get away from meeting him on the gridiron.

"I've known Larry Izzo since I was 16 years old. He went to McCullough High School. I went to Langham Creek High School. He went to Rice. I went to Houston. So, we played against each other all through high school through college, and I've known Larry forever. He's a good friend of mine, a great dude, and a hell of a coach," McGaughey said

Ironically enough, Izzo slid into the spot when McGaughey left as assistant special teams coordinator for the Giants after the 2010 season to take a post with LSU.  

"Larry was trying to get into coaching," McGaughey recalled. "Super smart guy. He was a great special teams player--probably one of the greatest of all time. He got into it on his own. Larry’s a heck of a dude. Great coach, good man."

Now, the old friends will clash again in this latest iteration of the rivalry. For the last 13 seasons, both guys have been preparing special teams units to do the underappreciated work of a football game. 

Last season, the Giants' special teams mostly played well. They punted and kicked well. The coverage units also played well. 

Unfortunately, they had a couple of critical errors in the return game that may have cost the team a win. So McGaughey will focus on getting the best of his friend this time. 

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