Davis Webb is not the only former Giants quarterback on the team’s offensive coordinator radar. Alex Tanney is in this race as well. Multiple Colts staffers who coached Daniel Jones last season have received interview slips from the Giants.
The Giants sent Tanney an OC meeting request Thursday, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. The team also has scheduled an interview with Colts OC Jim Bob Cooter about the job, per ESPN.com’s Peter Schrager.
[RELATED: Cooter Completes Second Eagles OC Interview]
With the Giants from 2018-20, Tanney was one of Jones’ backups. Hired by the Colts as their pass-game coordinator in 2024, Tanney spent last season coaching his former teammate. Cooter has been the Colts’ OC since 2023, but because the Giants’ OC post would involve play-calling duties, Indianapolis cannot block him from this lateral move.
Considering Jones’ mostly disappointing Giants tenure, it is interesting the Giants have two of his Indianapolis mentors on their OC radar. Tanney served as one of Jones’ backups for two seasons, spending time on the practice squad and active roster. Tanney, 38, only played in one game with the team (during the 2019 season). But he has resurfaced as a promising assistant coach.
The Eagles employed Tanney as their QBs coach in 2023, promoting him after he spent two prior years on Nick Sirianni’s staff. Sirianni hired Tanney two days after he retired. While Tanney only made his way into two career games, he bounced around as a backup/P-squad option from 2012-20 before calling it quits in 2021. Tanney and Webb overlapped briefly as teammates, both going to Giants training camp in 2018 — Eli Manning‘s final starter season.
The Colts hired Tanney in 2024, reuniting him with former Eagles boss Shane Steichen. Now, two of Steichen’s top assistants are in the mix to work under John Harbaugh in New York. Tanney was with nine NFL teams, but the Ravens were not among that group.
Weeks after the Giants cut Jones to wrap a six-year partnership, he drew free agent offers from the Colts and Vikings. Jones chose Indianapolis due to the better chance it presented for a starting role, and Cooter was a key part of his bounce-back season.
After never eclipsing seven yards per attempt in New York, Jones closed his injury-shortened Indy slate with an 8.1-yard average. The Colts were soaring on offense during the season’s first half, sitting at 8-2. Jones led the NFL in success rate and completed a career-high 68% of his passes to go with 3,101 yards despite finishing only 12 games.
Cooter and Tanney also were part of the crew that helped Philip Rivers resemble a viable option despite nearly five years away from the game. Rivers unretired and started three games. His effort against the Seahawks — which required a 56-yard Jason Myers game-winner to down the visitors — has aged rather well considering Seattle’s defense-powered Super Bowl charge. Rivers then tallied 277 yards and two touchdown passes in a Monday-night outing against the 49ers, reflecting well on Steichen and his assistants.
Via PFR’s Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker, here is how the Giants’ process stands following would-be hire Todd Monken being named Browns head coach:
- Jim Bob Cooter, offensive coordinator (Colts): To interview
- Todd Monken, offensive coordinator (Ravens): Hire expected; accepted Browns’ HC offer
- Robert Prince, wide receivers coach (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/23
- Willie Taggart, running backs coach (Ravens): Joining staff in different capacity
- Alex Tanney, pass-game coordinator (Colts): Interview requested
- Davis Webb, quarterbacks coach (Broncos): Interview requested
- Charlie Weis Jr., offensive coordinator (LSU): Mentioned as candidate
First I am hearing this name. Hopefully not the last.
Jim Bob has lived in the shadow of his much more famous older Brother Bobby James Cooter. You must have heard of him. If not you need to go down South and ask about him. He is a living legend.
“Cooter has been the Colts’ OC since 2023, but because the Giants’ OC post would involve play-calling duties, Indianapolis cannot block him from this lateral move”
Interesting little wrinkle in the rules. Wonder what would happen if a team hired a guy with this in mind, then demoted him from play-calling duties shortly thereafter. Is there language where Cooter would have to stay as play-caller for X number of weeks? Seems like an easy rule to circumvent. Conversely, couldn’t the Colts just announce that Cooter is now their play-caller, block the interview request, then after the Giants hire someone, switch it back to Steichen?
rct:
The first team or a few teams to do this would probably get away with it, but then the league would make some changes to find a way where that couldn’t happen. Fines or other penalties if it’s an obvious circumvention of the rule.
That name will be the most overused meme next season