For years, the man who turned the New York Giants around wasn’t just hard on his players; a lot of them genuinely couldn’t stand him. And no one held onto that anger more than a young Michael Strahan. So what turned all that hate into something like respect? The answer says a lot more about the legendary Giants coach than any game plan ever could.

“Tom Coughlin was by far the toughest coach I ever had when he first came to the Giants,” Michael Strahan said on The Entrepreneur Playbook. “Hated the man. Everybody on the team hated this man. He had rules that were so unnecessary. He put us through tough stuff just for the heck of doing it. But when I finally had a chance a few years in, he and I had a real pointed conversation.

“I realized that he wanted the same thing that I did. It ended up working and led us to a Super Bowl. As long as you want the same thing, remove your ego, talk about it.”

Coughlin didn’t just expect a lot from his players. He expected the same from his coaching staff and pretty much everyone who worked under him. Respect wasn’t optional. Neither were his rules. If Coughlin set a guideline, you followed it, no exceptions, and accountability and toughness were basically his religion. All that micromanaging had one real purpose: control.

It’s no surprise he became one of the toughest coaches in the league to play for. Strahan and former running back Tiki Barber didn’t see eye to eye on much during their years together, but they agreed on this: nobody could stand Coughlin.

It got serious enough that in 2004, three Giants, linebackers Carlos Emmons and Barrett Green, along with cornerback Terry Cousin, filed complaints with the NFL Players Association. Coughlin fined each of them $500, according to ESPN. Their crime? Not showing up “early enough” to a team meeting. Then came 2006, and everything shifted.

Coughlin nearly lost his job after that season, and owner John Mara sat him down with a clear message that “he needed to take something off his fastball.” Ease up on the players, ease up on the media. Coughlin actually listened.

From there, his run with the Giants became something special.

He coached the team from 2004 to 2015, picking up two Super Bowl wins along the way, both against the Patriots. And that first ring, back in 2007, meant even more for Strahan. It was the perfect way to close out his career, walking away as a Super Bowl champion under the very coach he once couldn’t stand.

Of course, nothing lasts forever. By 2015, the Giants had slipped to 6-10, their fourth straight year missing the playoffs. Coughlin later admitted the truth everyone already suspected: the team had eased him out the door. But what he taught Strahan has always stuck along.