Oh, Antonio!

Seems released Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is trying to make a name for himself in the media. He told NFL Network today that Tom Coughlin is on the hot seat because of last year's failure.

I'm not so sure about that. With a potential lockout coming up in 2011, I'm not sure how many coaches will really be on a hot seat this year. If they're under contract in 2011, as Coughlin will be (his final year), it makes sense for a team to keep a coach until all the labor issues are settled, just in case they have to come back in what would be the middle of the schedule. Easier to do that with an incumbent's system than a new one.

Also, given the fact that Coughlin took them to a Super Bowl title in 2007, I believe the Giants will pretty much let him coach out his contract, even if this year turns into a sub-.500 season.

But here's Pierce's rationale.

"He's on the hot seat," Pierce said. "I think everybody in the organization is on the hot seat. You are talking about a team three years removed from the Super Bowl. There are some fires lit underneath people's butts now in that locker room and in that organization. Everybody is on high alert. It is going to be a very interesting 2010 season."

He said the spat with defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan that caused Osi Umenyiora to walk out of a preseason meeting lingered for months and hurt the team, despite a 5-0 start.

"That, I think, trickled down to the rest of our season," Pierce said. "That's still on everybody's mind because everybody remembered that. Osi walking out of the team meeting. And he left the building. He came back and apologized and we moved on. We went 5-0 after that but it had an effect.

"All those things ... that is a trickle-down effect. Now you are affecting other guys on the team, because you are messing with the chemistry. If one guy is unhappy, you are talking about one of your main leaders, if he is unhappy, some other guys' feathers are getting wrinkled as well."

He said the team never really took to Sheridan, a fact that became evident early in the Giants' worst defensive season since 1967.

"You've been doing things a certain way for two years and it was just fine," Pierce said of playing for Spagnuolo. "It was right. And now you are being coached and that's not right, that's not correct. And that became the problem."

Still, this is an organization that rewards winning coaches with career longevity, so I don't think they'll be pulling the rug out from under Coughlin anytime soon. Guess AP and I will have to agree to disagree on this one.

How about you?

EP