EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- John Fox was a part of Jim Fassel's biggest moments in New York. Now he has a chance to create some magical ones with Carolina.
In his first appearance against his former boss, Fox's Carolina Panthers ended Fassel's tenure in New York with a 37-24 victory.
Fox was Fassel's defensive coordinator from 1997-2001 and the Giants won two NFC East titles. But the highlight of Fox's association with Fassel was in 2000 when New York advanced to the Super Bowl with a 41-0 blanking of Minnesota in the NFC championship game.
"I spent the very first moment when he was hired and the very last and I feel proud to have been associated with him in that stay," Fox said. "He has a lot to be proud of as I've told him."
Fox took over a Panther team that bottomed out at 1-15 in 2001 and they improved to 7-9 in his first season. But this season was a special one for the Panthers, who won several close games to capture the NFC South with an 11-5 record and will host Dallas Saturday night in the wild card round.
"I know this, we have a lot of great people that have committed a lot of time and effort from ownership on down to the training staff, so I'm real proud of this group," Fox said of Carolina's transformation.
"That is something that we want," Carolina safety Mike Minter added. "That is something that we are looking forward to and hopefully, we will come out fired up and ready to go."
As for Fassel, his seven-year tenure with the Giants ended with an eight-game losing streak in which they were outscored, 219-78. With a disappointing 4-12 mark this season, Fassel finished with a 58-53-1 record.
Fassel overcame slow starts and speculation about his job status in previous years. But despite having his run end, Fassel said he felt honored to coach the Giants.
"I am honored to have coached for seven years," he said. "A lot of guys don't last that long in a lot of jobs. I am fortunate. To be a head coach in the National Football League, you have to feel very fortunate. Not a lot of guys get the chances to do it here in New York and do it for a franchise that I care so much about. It has been great. The fans have been phenomenal."
Carolina took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and built a 30-10 advantage at halftime. Steve Smith began things with a 53-yard punt return, John Kasay kicked a 42-yard field goal and Ricky Manning Jr. returned an interception 27 yards for a score.
The game took over 3 1/2 hours, had 61 points and featured some wild moments. With the outcome decided, referee Bernie Kukar was knocked out after being hit in the back by safety Clarence LeBlanc.
Throughout the game fans had signs displaying their support for Fassel. Once the game ended, his players surrounded him and hugged him before Fox met his former boss at midfield.
"I want to pay my due respect to Jim that he deserves," said defensive tackle Keith Hamilton, who also began his career with the Giants in 1992 and also played for Ray Handley and Dan Reeves. "Being with him for seven years, it's been tremendous. He deserves a lot of respect, he's a winner. We weren't able to put it together this year but he'll land on his feet and he'll be fine."
