text: The Giants decided to give Tom Coughlin one more chance heading into the 2007 season, giving him a one-year contract extension.  This essentially indicated that he needed to get the Giants into the postseason in order to receive a long-term contract extension.  After his family demonstrated concern over his on-field persona and his apparent anger towards his players, Coughlin decided to undergo a personality change heading into the season.  While his strict team rules (most notoriously, his five-minute early rule for a team meeting) remained in place, he became less angry and more encouraging towards his players, and the players took note of his change.  Coughlin also set up a leadership committee with Eli Manning and other team captains in order to relate to his players better.
  The Giants also entered the season with two new coordinators.  Coughlin promoted quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride to offensive coordinator, a position he would hold until his retirement after the 2013 season.  He also fired defensive coordinator Tim Lewis and replaced him with Steve Spagnuolo, who would have a crucial impact on the Giants's 4-3 defense.
  Defensive end Michael Strahan held out for the entirety of training camp.  Having previously been disillusioned with Tom Coughlin's coaching methods, he spent the offseason debating whether or not he would come back for the season, and decided that since he had already played for 14 seasons, he wouldn't have needed the training camp anyway.  He eventually returned to the team mere weeks before the season started.  Despite his training camp holdout and a hefty fine for not attending the camp, he was still elected as a team captain.