The Giants are interviewing Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo for their vacant head coaching position today, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). This appears to be the first time Anarumo has ever generated HC interest.
Anarumo, 55, began his coaching career as the RB coach at Wagner College in 1989, and he joined the NFL ranks over 20 years later, becoming the Dolphins’ defensive backs coach in 2012. He was briefly promoted to defensive coordinator partway through the 2015 season and resumed his role as DB coach for the 2016-17 campaigns under Adam Gase.
He served in that same capacity for the Giants in 2018 before being hired as the Bengals’ DC in 2019. When he took the job, Cincinnati was coming off a season in which it finished dead-last in total defense. In his first two years working under head coach Zac Taylor, the Bengals still fielded bottom-10 defenses, and Anarumo’s unit wasn’t much better in 2021 in terms of yards allowed. However, the defense did perform well this year when it mattered most, including last night’s divisional round win over the Titans, which featured three interceptions of Tennessee QB Ryan Tannehill.
Anarumo, a New York native, has ties to the organization that go beyond his one year as DB coach. He and Big Blue’s new GM, Joe Schoen, spent a few years together with the Dolphins, and while Schoen’s connections to other head coach candidates — namely, Bills OC Brian Daboll and DC Leslie Frazier — are more recent and probably more meaningful, the new top exec clearly sees something in Anarumo worth exploring.
Here’s an updated list of the Giants’ HC candidates:
- Lou Anarumo, defensive coordinator (Bengals): Interviewed 1/23
- Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator (Bills): Interviewed 1/21
- Brian Flores, former head coach (Dolphins): Interview expected
- Leslie Frazier, defensive coordinator (Bills): Interviewed 1/22
- Patrick Graham, defensive coordinator (Giants): To interview
- Dan Quinn, defensive coordinator (Cowboys): To interview 1/24
Lou Ferrigno ??
This is Schoen’s call, and a sign that Daboll may want nothing to do with the Giants and that awful roster.
Thats stupid! He is casting a wide net before making a decision. The roster can go from awful to solid with a great draft and shrewd free agency. Daboll focused on bills right now. Trust me if the bills lose today Nd daboll is the guy he will be announced as giants coach this week.
This says absolutely nothing about Daboll. They’re just interviewing a bunch of candidates because it would be neglect of duty to do otherwise.
Honestly, the Bengals’ defensive turnaround this year was beyond impressive. That said, Anarumo was in danger was losing his job last year by some accounts.
I think I’d like to see more consistency if it were me. One good year is not enough if the only other year was disappointing, but if Anarumo can continue to build up the defense, he may be a popular interview choice to come.
The Bengals defensive personnel turn over is the reason for the improvement. Not the coordinator
That did have a lot to do with it, that’s true. There are a lot of players there who either joined this past year or the year before and made a big difference. Hendrickson, Awuzie, and Hilton are a few.