{"id":43892,"date":"2026-02-10T07:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=43892"},"modified":"2026-02-10T07:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:09:28","slug":"who-was-ray-handley-former-new-york-giants-head-coach-and-two-time-super-bowl-winner-dies-at-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/nfl\/who-was-ray-handley-former-new-york-giants-head-coach-and-two-time-super-bowl-winner-dies-at-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Who was Ray Handley? Former New York Giants head coach and two-time Super Bowl winner dies at 81"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ray Handley<\/strong>, the former head coach of the New York Giants<\/strong> and a two-time Super Bowl<\/strong>-winning assistant coach, has died at the age of 81<\/strong>, the team confirmed Friday. His nephew, Rob Handley, publicly announced his passing and the Giants also shared tributes on social media.<\/p>\n

Handley, remembered for his role in one of the most successful eras in Giants history, passed away on February 5, 2026<\/strong>. Funeral arrangements and details from the family have not yet been released.<\/p>\n

A Coaching Career Shaped by Super Bowl Success<\/h3>\n

Born October 8, 1944, in Artesia, New Mexico<\/strong>, Handley made his mark in football both as a player and a coach. He played college football at Stanford University<\/strong>, starring as a running back before briefly signing with the American Football League\u2019s San Diego Chargers in 1966.<\/p>\n

Handley began coaching at his alma mater before moving into the NFL ranks. In 1984<\/strong>, he joined the New York Giants<\/strong> coaching staff under legendary head coach Bill Parcells<\/strong> as the offensive backfield coach. In that role, he contributed to the Giants\u2019 preparations and strategy during two Super Bowl triumphs: Super Bowl XXI<\/strong> (1986 season) and Super Bowl XXV<\/strong> (1990 season).<\/p>\n

His analytical mind and skill in managing game situations \u2014 especially late-game clock strategy \u2014 were cited by colleagues as key parts of the Giants\u2019 success during this period.<\/p>\n

Promotion to Head Coach and NFL Tenure<\/h3>\n

After the Giants\u2019 second Super Bowl victory under Parcells, Handley was promoted to head coach in 1991<\/strong>, taking over a franchise coming off a championship season. He was selected ahead of assistants who later became notable NFL head coaches, including Bill Belichick<\/strong> and Tom Coughlin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Handley\u2019s tenure as Giants head coach lasted two seasons (1991\u20131992). He finished with a 14-18 record<\/strong>, including an 8-8<\/strong> mark in his first season and 6-10<\/strong> in his second. Despite a promising start that included a Monday Night Football victory against the San Francisco 49ers<\/strong>, the team struggled to regain the dominance of the Parcells era, leading to his dismissal.<\/p>\n

After leaving the NFL, Handley largely withdrew from public life and did not return to coaching at the professional level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ray Handley, the former head coach of the New York Giants and a two-time Super Bowl-winning assistant coach, has died\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":438,"featured_media":43893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4752],"tags":[4759],"class_list":["post-43892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-ray-handley"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/438"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43894,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43892\/revisions\/43894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}