The clocks in Duval are back to standard time.
Tom Coughlin, ever the stickler for punctuality, had the clocks set five minutes ahead at the Jacksonville Jaguars' facility, aka "Tom Coughlin Time." After his Wednesday firing, the timekeepers were changed back to normal time.
"That's the first thing I noticed when I got in here," corner A.J. Bouye said Thursday from the locker room, via Jaguar Maven. "I thought that I was late for meetings. I look up, I had an extra five minutes, so I was good. That's the only thing that's changed."
Coughlin was always adamant about promptness dating back to his days with the New York Giants.
"If you are on time, you are on time," Coughlin said back in 2004, via ESPN. "Meetings start five minutes early."
The notorious nitpicker, Coughlin often fined players for tardiness, among other things. It was his zealousness for fines that got him in hot water in Jacksonville, with an arbitrator ruling this week in favor of the NFLPA on a grievance over the Jaguars' disciplining players. The ruling ultimately led to his abrupt ouster.
Not all players took a hard stance with Coughlin's old-school ways, including Bouye, who noted he was once fined in 2017 for skipping a rehab session.
"I didn't really have [a] problem with Tom," the veteran corner said. "I know he was strict, but I had coach [George] O'Leary at UCF. so same background. So all this stuff I've been used to it even to the clocks. You know what he's done in the league, won two Super Bowls with New York. His resume is definitely great. Wish him all the best, don't know what's going to happen with him, unfortunate it had to end like this."