Football fans have different views of Tom Coughlin; some good, some not so good. But as a humanitarian helping families of young people with cancer, there is no debate as to the impact Coughlin's Jay Fund has on these families.
The Jay Fund began here in Jacksonville in 1996. Its origins occurred during Coughlin's first year coaching football at Boston College when one of his players, Jay McGillis, contracted leukemia. During McGillis' seven-month fight with the disease, Coughlin visited him often and observed the financial and emotional toll it had on the McGillis family. Jay died in 1992, but his spirit, courage and compassion inspired Coughlin to create an organization to assist families with a child suffering from leukemia. After Coughlin moved to Jacksonville in 1994 as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he began talking with people and making plans to create a foundation and when Coach Coughlin moved to coach the New York GIants, the Jay Fund went with him. There are so many amazing stories of love.
Here's another great story from Tom Coughlin's Jay Fund of a young man in New Jersey who wanted to work in a pizzeria.