One day, I would like to meet him. Shake his hand. And thank him. Because there is no other figure in my 47 years here on the mortal terra firma more responsible for my sports watching joy than Tom Coughlin.

He cost Notre Dame a national championship while coaching at Boston College.

He cost the Patriots two Super Bowls and an undefeated season while coaching the Giants.

This ranks Coughlin only a notch or two below Jesus, if you ask me.

The man I admire more than any other in sports resigned Monday after a 12-year run with Big Blue. I found myself oddly emotional reading tributes from past and present Giants players about him. It wasn’t exactly breaking news that Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium might be his last. And yet every player interviewed after the game said they wanted their coach to stay, despite an exasperating season.

Think about that. They could have lapsed into cliché festivals, thrown him under the bus or remained ambivalent. Instead, the hosannas rained. And nobody said it better than former Giant Justin Tuck, who wrote the following on his Instagram account:

“As I sit back and reflect on coach Tom Coughlin, I remember all the one-on-ones in your office talking football, game plan, etc. I think back to when I was named captain and I used to try and beat you to the facility. I would get there at 6, you were there. I got there at 5:30 and you were there. Five a.m. … I knew I would beat you then. ... NOPE YOU WERE THERE. I remember feeling the hood of your car and it was cold. Come to find out there were nights you slept in the office.

“No one worked harder, no one demanded more and I LOVE YOU for it. I chose this picture (of Coughlin meeting Tuck’s little daughter) for one reason and one reason only. Everyone knows you for your dedication to your team and how intense you are on the football field. But I will remember you for helping me become a man and challenging all of us to be better husbands and fathers and men. You did it the right way, coach. And you might be retiring from coaching but I'm sure this isn't a goodbye. That's not in your nature. #halloffame.”

Someone should frame that.

My favorite Coughlin story comes through Bob Picozzi, an old friend and ESPN broadcaster. Bob once did a talk show with late, great Giants punter Dave Jennings, who died in 2013, losing his battle with Parkinson’s disease. Jennings’ last days proved the old "nothing lasts forever" line is faulty. Memories do. And Jennings, thanks to Coughlin, was reminded that he’ll live forever in the hearts and minds of all the football Giants. Once a Giant, always a Giant.

Not long after Coughlin addressed the team the night before Super Bowl XLVI, when the Giants would beat the Patriots again, he called Dave Jennings. Dave was pretty well incapacitated by then. The phone call meant everything, what with the billion other details occupying Coughlin's thoughts.

Not long after the Super Bowl, I exercised one of those Tom Cruise, "sometimes, you gotta say what the (heck)" moments and tried to reach Coughlin. Pat Hanlon, the Giants' intrepid vice president of communications, wrote back and said that Coughlin wanted to keep the contents of the conversation private.

“Tom would never want the appearance to be that he called Dave so his efforts would be praised,” Hanlon wrote. “I hope you understand.”

Sure do.

Coughlin’s days at BC were remarkable as well. The upset in South Bend, with the Irish undefeated in late November, 1993, came one year after Lou Holtz fake-punted BC with a 37-0 lead. I was fortunate enough to attend that season’s New Year’s Day bowl game, riding a bus with the families of coaches and players.

One of Coughlin’s assistants, Pete Carmichael, is the father-in-law of my college roommate, the great John Ratcliffe. Membership has its privileges. I’ll never forget that day. Or what Coughlin wrought in a program that went 2-10 just a few years earlier.

I’ve always said this about the Giants: Nothing else framed my childhood more profoundly. Mass at 11, Sunday dinner at 12, kickoff at 1 … and my father hollering “Jesus” by 1:03, way louder than he did in church. The Giants are a way of life every autumn.

Tom Coughlin did the franchise proud every day. Because the Giants won as many Super Bowls as any other franchise during Coughlin’s 12 years — and more than any other franchise since 2007. And because of who he is and what he stands for. He leaves with two championships, a path to the Hall of Fame and the undying gratitude of everyone who knows the sanctity of Sunday at 1 with the Giants.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius