The New York Giants are reportedly closing in on a one year extension with long time head coach Tom Coughlin, but with Coughlin turning 69 just before the beginning of the 2015 season, the question of how much longer Coughlin should be on the sidelines will continue to come up.

“In a short amount of time you’ll discover what’s going on,” Coughlin said when asked about his future at the NFL Combine.

While some point to Coughlin’s two Super Bowl titles as reason to let him coach as long as he wants, others will point to the Giants failure to reach the playoffs in each of the last three years as a reason to look for a new voice. The question for Coughlin and the Giants is, how long can Coughlin continue to relate to, and coach players who are almost 50 years younger than he is?

The biggest question, or perhaps the only real question for the Giants is, can the coach who coached the team to two Super Bowls find a way to get the team back there again. That’s the only reason the team can keep Coughlin around. If all Coughlin can promise is a team that will fight hard and win eight or nine games while missing the playoffs year in and year out, the Giants need to look for their next head coach immediately. No amount of history or respect or good will should save the job of a man who’s not still capable of coaching his team to a championship.

“Security? Security? There’s 32 guys that coach one year at a time, I don’t care how many years you’ve got on your contract,” Coughlin explained when asked about job security.

For New York, this isn’t about Coughlin’s Hall of Fame career. This isn’t about the man who turned the Jacksonville Jaguars into competitors in just their second season in the NFL, or the coach who turned a tumultuous relationship with his players into a positive in 2007. None of Coughlin’s accomplishments should matter to the Giants if they don’t believe he can duplicate them this late into his coaching career.

That is where the answer lies. When the Giants ask themselves if they should continue to stay the course with Coughlin, they have to take a look at whether or not 69 year old Tom Coughlin can continue to adjust to the climate of the NFL, and if his message can continue to motivate a new brand of player.

Forget about Eli Manning and that Coughlin is the only coach the veteran quarterback has known. Forget about some of the other candidates who might be available or who have even been rumored to be waiting for Coughlin’s seat to become available. The reason New York must stay the course with Coughlin is because the Giants aren’t as far away as you might think. The window for Coughlin, Manning and this current group isn’t closing, it’s just beginning to re-open, and it’s because Coughlin is still ready to lead this team, and because of his willingness to adjust, and change. Coughlin is ready to lead the Giants in 2015, in 2016, and by the looks of things, as long as he wants to.

We all know the story of Coughlin finally figuring out that he couldn’t win it all while being the disciplinarian he’d always been, if he didn’t first connect with his players. It’s this ability to adjust and openness to change that has kept Tom Coughlin in coaching, and is the reason the Giants window is now re-opening. While the return of Steve Spagnuolo will be great for the Giants, it was Coughlin finally parting ways with long time offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, and the hiring of Bob McAdoo for the position, which has pushed the window for Coughlin and Manning back open.

Last season was Manning’s first in McAdoo’s west coast style offense, and it was painfully obvious during the preseason and as the season began. However, despite the learning curve, the Giants missing star receiver Victor Cruz for most of the season, and one of the worst offensive lines in football, Manning had one of the best statistical seasons of his NFL career. If you assume that Manning will continue to progress in this offense as he has a better grasp of it, it’s not crazy to think that the 34-year old quarterback’s best football may still be in front of him. Coughlin’s willingness to change, and openness to try something new offensively, may not have only extended his own career, it may have extended his quarterback’s.

It sounds like a broken record, but if the Giants can sure up the offensive line this could turn into one of the most explosive offenses in football. Teams are going to find it very difficult to stay with both Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr, and that is going to open things up for the running game as well. Once they got comfortable, the Giants were difficult to stop a year ago, behind a poor offensive line. Some new horses up front, a run game, and the return of Cruz, will make stopping Beckham, who dominated a year ago, when it seemed he was the only weapon on the field, even harder to stop.

The Giants offense looks like it could be light years ahead of the offense in either of their Super Bowl winning seasons under Coughlin. If Spagnuolo can recreate any of the success he had with the Giants defense in his first stint as Giants defensive coordinator, the team could be very scary. While Spagnuolo won’t have the pass rushers he was blessed with the last time around, New York has a better secondary than they had the first time he was calling the shots. Before the offseason, it doesn’t look like Spagnuolo will have as much talent as the first time around, but if the Giants offenses progresses as it looks like they should, he won’t need to have as much success as he did the first time around either.

If the Giants offense and defense comes together in the next couple years to make them legitimate Super Bowl contenders, New York knows they’ve got a head coach in charge that can pull it all together. They have a leader of men who has been willing to change with the times in order to stay relevant in an ever changing game. Forget about when Coughlin was born. He has an energy and exuberance that men many years younger than him can’t match.  Coughlin has earned the right to call his shot. He should return to coaching the Giants in 2016, and until he decides he’s no longer capable of doing so. Coughlin earned that right, not only by what he’s done in winning two Super Bowls, but because of what he’s continued to be willing to do, and that’s change.