Peter Giunta

Giants Part Ways With DC Perry Fewell

10:09am: Per Graziano (via Twitter), the Giants are also letting go of defensive backs coach Peter Giunta, who has been with the organization since 2006.

9:53am: The Giants have made a change to their coaching staff today, having decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Earlier this week, reports had suggested Fewell would likely be returning for the 2015 season, but it appears the team had a change of heart.

Fewell, who had been on Tom Coughlin‘s staff since 2010, was viewed as a candidate to be fired this offseason after his unit dipped from sixth in Football Outsiders’ DVOA in 2013 to 25th in 2014. At his end-of-season press conference, Coughlin strongly defended Fewell’s performance, indicating that he felt the players responded to the defensive coordinator, but if the head coach went to bat for Fewell in subsequent meetings, it appears not everyone in the building agreed with his assessment.

With an opening at the defensive coordinator position, it shouldn’t be long before we start hearing candidates linked to the Giants. Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun suggests (via Twitter) that one of those candidates could be Ravens secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo, who previously worked for the Giants as their DC. ESPN’s Dan Graziano (Twitter link) agrees that Spagnuolo could be on the Giants’ radar, but expects the club to cast a wide net in its search.