John McVay never recovered from his signature disaster. The Giants let him coach out the rest of the regular season after Nov. 19, 1978, after Joe Pisarcik handed the ball to Larry Csonka and the ball fell to the ground, after Herman Edwards scampered 26 yards and handed the Eagles a backbreaking 19-17 win over McVay’s Giants.
But McVay was doomed the moment he refused to overrule offensive coordinator Bob Gibson, who insisted on calling “65 Power Up” rather than taking a knee. There was no coming back from that. The Giants finished that season 6-10. McVay was axed soon after.
Jim Fassel never recovered from his signature disaster, either. He actually got a full year after Jan. 5, 2003, after the Giants somehow managed to squander a 38-14 lead with 17 minutes left in a first-round playoff loss to the 49ers at Candlestick Park. The game ended on a botched snap by Trey Junkin, and the moment that ball hit the turf, Fassel was a fired coach walking.
Oh, he got the 2003 season, and it was a 17-week sleepwalk for the Giants, who’d stopped listening to Fassel right around the time Jeff Garcia found Tai Streets to finish the 49ers comeback. The Giants went 4-12 in ’03. Fassel never got another head coaching job.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
