Judith Coughlin, wife of former Jaguars coach, dies

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Judith Ann Coughlin, wife of former Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Tom Coughlin, died on Wednesday, Nov. 2. A resident of Atlantic Beach, she was 77.

She was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, an incurable brain disorder, in 2020.

“Judy Coughlin was an amazing individual who brought so much warmth and so many smiles to our families tackling childhood cancer,” read a message posted Wednesday on the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Twitter site. “We echo Coach Coughlin and the Coughlin family statement that Judy’s kindness and love will forever be her legacy. We join Coach, Keli, Tim, Brian, Kate and the entire Coughlin family in mourning the loss of our co-founder and their beloved wife, mother and grandmother.”

In a tweet posted Wednesday, Jaguars owner Shad Khan wrote: “It was a privilege for me to know Judy Coughlin, if only for a short while. Judy was everything I had been told to expect when her husband Tom returned to the Jaguars in 2017 — kind, energetic, optimistic and an inspiration.”

New York Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch tweeted out a message reading: “We were saddened to hear of Judy’s passing this morning. She was an incredibly bright light for all of us, and we were blessed that she shared her energy, vitality and love with our organization.”

Tom Coughlin coached the Jaguars from 1995 to 2002. He went on to coach the New York Giants in 2004-15 and returned to the Jaguars as executive vice president, 2017-19. He launched the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, which has given away more than $16 million over the past 25 years to help families in Northeast Florida and the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan Area battling childhood cancer.

Judy Coughlin was an honorary board member of the fund.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Quinn-Shalz Family Funeral Home & Cremation Centre.

Further details will be announced later.