JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Great weather, no state income tax, big-money contracts and a good base of talent on defense attracted Calais Campbell to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Tom Coughlin apparently was a draw, too.
Campbell, who signed a four-year contract worth $60 million ($30 million guaranteed) on Friday, said playing for the Jaguars' new executive vice president of football operations was an opportunity he didn't want to miss, which is partly why he chose the Jaguars over his hometown Denver Broncos.
"I've been a fan of Tom Coughlin's since I've been in the NFL and having to compete against his teams," Campbell said. "I really like the way his mindset is and the way he prepares his guys, so I wanted to be a part of that. ...
"The main thing that I like about him is that he's a winner."
Campbell wasn't the only new member of the Jaguars to say Coughlin played at least a small part in their decision to come to Jacksonville.
Coughlin may not be their immediate boss, but what he accomplished with the New York Giants and in his first tenure here as the head coach intrigued left tackle Branden Albert, safety Barry Church and cornerback A.J. Bouye.
Albert, whom the Jaguars acquired on Thursday in a trade with Miami, said he became a Coughlin fan after a conversation he had with Giants guard Bobby Hart before a Dolphins-Giants game in 2015. When he found out the Dolphins were going to trade him to the Jaguars instead of releasing him last month, he remembered what Hart told him.
"I guess they do scouting each week of players, [and] he told me Coach Coughlin doesn't give anybody compliments, but he loved Branden Albert for some reason," Albert said. "I had read it somewhere in a newspaper some of the stuff he was saying about me at that time, and now that I get to meet him, the football brain that he has, it's a big compliment.
"That's another reason why I just felt like I'm meant to be here."
Church played the past seven years in Dallas and faced Coughlin's Giants twice a year from 2010-15. Seeing how the Giants went on to win Super Bowls after the 2007 and 2011 seasons, despite somewhat rocky regular seasons (4-4 down the stretch in 2007 and 9-7 in 2011), impressed him.
"The biggest factor I believe for me coming down here was just seeing the potential that this team had and just seeing that I could be a part of something special," said Church, who signed four-year contract worth $26 million. "Just adding Coach Coughlin to that is just an added bonus. He's going to get the most out of every player that we have here. He's stern in what he believes in.
"If we could buy in as a team in what he believes in we'll be in pretty good shape."
Bouye has already done so.
"I was doing my research, seeing the Super Bowls he won in New York, and I saw the [coaching] staff," said Bouye, who signed a five-year, $67.5 million contract with $26 million guaranteed. "I was doing my research on the staff, the coaches, what they were bringing to the table, their resume and everything, and I just knew they were trying to turn this around and they're trying to win now. That's one thing Coughlin told me today and that got me really excited."
GM Dave Caldwell handled the bulk of the work negotiating contracts for Campbell, Church and Bouye and in the trade with Miami for Albert, but Coughlin was a factor in finalizing things.
"I think Tom's invaluable in this process," Caldwell said. "His reputation; he's got a lot of relationships with agents and as we started to get the ball rolling and then get Tom on the phone with some of these agents was critical in us closing those deals."