OK, the exif data is there. My Firefox exif reader wasn't working, but it's ok now.

OK: 1/500, f/5.6, iso=200, 3D meter, Auto WB.

Now we have some clues. The scene is pretty monochromatic. The Coyote, probably didn't stand out in the scene very much. You mentioned you had trouble focusing, so I'm guessing you had trouble holding on to a contrasty edge on the composition to focus. The D80 doesn't have many focus points, and they're pretty well spread out, so I imaging focus was hunting for this image. (It would help to know what kind of focus you used and what mode.) I'm wondering if you ever found a focus area in the subject area, such as the grass line behind the coyote, and kept it there, by keeping the shutter release halfway down, and holding it there while recomposing your photo to get the image you want. (Manually setting your focus to infinity would have been completely appropriate for this photo, in my opinion. I do that often for distant landscapes. While this photo was of an animal, it was generally a landscape shot.)

I'm also wondering what your hand holding technique is like. I'm an old target shooter and use my standing technique with the camera. I'm a left eye shooter too. My right hand is on the camera, wrapped around the side with my index finger on the shutter release. In the case of the 18-200 lens, my left hand in under the lens, not holding the left side/left side bottom of the camera (kind of 45º from the right hand) so I can zoom and cradle the lens. With a shorter lens, my left hand will be holding the camera. My elbows are in to lend support, and tucked on to my body to the side of my abdomen. I take a breath and let it half out when I'm ready to take the picture, and hold the remaining breath. The viewfinder and back of the camera is right up against my face, tight, which also helps hold the camera. It's kind of a three point hold; face, and both hands, with arms using the body for support. I also stagger my feet with one more forward than the other to gain body support.

With that lens, at f5.6, and a 500th of a second, with VR on and set to normal, the photo should have generally been much sharper, however, there is no doubt that the sweet spot for that lens at 200mm is f/8. Nevertheless, I'm guessing you weren't in focus to start with, and the f/setting reduced depth of field so the foreground and background are worse than the coyote area.

Please give us more information about holding the camera, focus type and mode, and VR settings.

By the way, I still believe, even with a sharp focus, since you were at the limit of the ability of this lens, considering the size of the main subject, and the distance it was at, the image was still going to be less than perfect, if you expected any blow-up of the coyote.

Ned
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There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984)