Tom Curran • E-mail

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Purging the notebook, tape recorder and mind of picked-up pieces from the NFL Owners meetings at The Breakers (home of the $10 smoothie, $18 burger and $850 cabana rental).

Two Giant transformations
Since Eli Manning's brilliant three-game playoff run (and you can throw in the regular-season finale, too) there's been no shortage of football-watching Americans ready to proclaim him cured. The 20 picks that left him tied for the NFL's regular-season lead? The regular-season quarterback rating of 73.9 that put him at 25th in the league? Fuhgeddablahblah. That Eli's gone, and he's never coming back.

At the NFC Coaches Breakfast, I asked Giants coach Tom Coughlin if he believed in football epiphanies. Manning's in particular. "The way he played in the playoffs, his decision making, the releasing the ball on time, all of those things, the view of the field, they were things he did very well," Coughlin testified. "He's now had the reinforcement of having done that, and I think that he'll continue to grow and go from there. That's exactly where he's put himself. He's played himself through the playoffs and had the opportunity to win. I think you play your way into those situations. It's cumulative. You have so much time developing over the years and all of a sudden it came together. I expect him to be on the incline."

It was good to see Coughlin as relaxed as he was at these meetings. Too often in the past he had the temperament of a cornered ferret. The pressure of being under constant siege showed on his face and could be heard in his tone. And while one of last season's popular Giants storylines was the "new Tom Coughlin," that transformation was an act of desperation. Only now that he sees it worked does he seem to embrace it fully. Talking one last time about what the personality-transplant entailed, Coughlin said, "I think I did a better job of trying to be in situations such as meeting with the media, trying to understand the jobs they had to do. I got the connection from visiting with a lot of people after the season. I tried to take a deep breath and show a little more patience for those situations. My demeanor was different. I bit my tongue a few times, but I was also able to let things play out and listen to what was said.

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"I also wanted to let the players see that you do care about them," he admitted. "I've always cared about them. One thing I did say if this is the last year I'm going to coach, I'm going to have fun with it; I'm going to enjoy the players; I'm going to extend to them in a way that I think that they can understand that I do have great appreciation for their jobs are and what their roles are.”

Kiffin holding his ground
However long Raiders coach Lane Kiffin lasts in Oakland, when he does get canned he won't be remembered as just another one of Al Davis' lapdogs. Kiffin consistently has refused to let Davis trample his sensibilities even as Davis has forced decisions on Kiffin (retaining defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, for one) that Kiffin steadfastly opposed.

The Raiders hired former San Diego assistant James Lofton in February to coach their wide receivers. Lofton also interviewed for the head job Kiffin ultimately got. But even if the writing's on the wall, Kiffin's not bothering to read it.

"If you're going to worry about getting fired, I think you worry about that the day you get hired at the Raiders, if you want to start studying the way it goes with the coaches," Kiffin bluntly stated. "I don’t feel any added pressure. I put pressure on myself. So I don't look at it as pressure to be fired, because if I did, I would have started looking at that from Day One."

Kiffin, in his first chance to really be heard since the season ended, went into detail on the Ryan situation.

"At the end of the season, Rob and I had a meeting. And Rob felt that it may be in his best interest to go somewhere else and to pursue another opportunity," Kiffin explained. "So I met with the owner the next Tuesday after the season. I expressed that to Al. Al thought about that for awhile, and we talked about a number of different things, a number of different scenarios that could come up. Then Al decided to stay with Rob. Rob has another year on his contract. So we're going about that in the offseason and looking forward to the future, working together and seeing how we can get better on both sides of the ball."

Davis runs the Raiders defense. Ryan, no doubt, has grown tired of that fact and wants out. With Davis keeping him in Oakland against his will, what kind of employee will Ryan be in 2008?

"Rob and I have always had a very strong relationship and a very good relationship," said Kiffin. "We're going to do our best to put together a great team next year and come out and win as many games as we can. (Motivating Ryan) is my job. That's not the easy part. They're all professionals, and you just figure out a way to bring 'em together and to motivate them individually. Coaches are just like players. You have to find a way to keep them motivated and keep them driven and not just leave them on their own and think they're doing everything."

Asked to describe working for Davis, Kiffin said little but indicated much.

"The best way to describe ... I'm getting a drink of water ... ," he said, bracing himself. "Uh ... very unique. You have an owner that is very hands on. An owner that prides himself on knowledge of football, especially defensive knowledge and coaching of the defensive side of the ball. He's very active in that. It goes back to when I was talking to Rob and him pursuing other opportunities – remember, and it's not the easiest job, those of you who have covered the Raiders. There have been people that have even left, because of that, because Al is very hands-on on that side of the ball and very demanding, and he has his opinions on things. It's just very interesting and very intriguing."

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