This Date In Transactions History: Giants Extend Tom Coughlin
On this date in 2014, the Giants were coming off their first losing season in almost 10 years and head coach Tom Coughlin was about to enter lame-duck status. So, to avoid any controversy regarding their coaching staff, the organization decided to give their head coach an extension.
On February 21, 2014, the Giants signed Coughlin to a one-year extension. The deal kept the long-time head coach on the sideline through the 2015 campaign, with the new deal paying Coughlin around $7MM.
“The Giants have always done that,” Coughlin said of his one-year deal (via Conor Orr of NJ.com). “That’s the way it has been indicated to me. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it to be honest with you. We’ve got a lot of work going on in our business, as you know. I had great confidence that it would happen. And it did.”
Following a relatively successful stint as the Jaguars head coach, Coughlin joined the Giants in 2004. During his first five season at the helm, the Giants won 47 regular season games, made four postseason appearances, and won a Super Bowl. After dropping to 8-8 in 2009, they rebounded with 10 wins in 2010 before going 9-7 and earning another ring in 2011. After that second championship, the Giants inked Coughlin to a three-year, $20MM deal.
Following their Super Bowl XLVI victory, the Giants had another 9-7 record in 2012, but this time the team failed to reach the playoffs. The team fell to 7-9 in 2013, but there was still some reason for optimism. The team had an awful start to the season, going 0-6 through the first month-plus. However, they managed to rebound, going 7-3 for the rest of the season. Plus, the head coach had shown an ability to rebound from underwhelming seasons with championship-winning squads. So, when the Giants committed to Coughlin beyond the upcoming 2014 campaign, it raised few eyebrows.
However, things wouldn’t get better for the organization. The team fell to 6-10, but Coughlin still got another one-year extension to once again avoid lame-duck status. The team had another 6-10 season in 2015, and the writing was on the wall. There were whispers that the Giants were prepared to move on from Coughlin, but naturally, the organization allowed their successful coach to save face. So, Coughlin announced that he was stepping down from his position after the two sides decided to part ways.
The Giants took it year-by-year with Coughlin during his final seasons with the organization, but the team has been willing to commit to their recent hires. The team inked Ben McAdoo to a four-year deal, and they signed Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge to five-year deals. We haven’t heard anything about the length of Brian Daboll‘s contract, but the new HC is surely hoping he’ll last longer than his predecessors.
AFC Coaching Notes: Texans, Browns, Bettcher, Ravens, Gould
The Texans have hired former Dolphins’ coaching assistant Kenyon Jackson in the position of assistant defensive line coach, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. Son of former Pro Bowl tight end Keith Jackson, Kenyon played defensive tackle at the University of Illinois under new Texans’ head coach Lovie Smith.
In what is starting to seem like a trend, Smith also hired Dele Harding as a defensive assistant. Harding also played for Smith at Illinois, serving for two years as a team captain at linebacker.
Here are a few more notes on coaching changes in the AFC, starting with a note from the location of this weekend’s NBA All-Star game:
- The Browns have hired Jordan Thomas in the role of assistant defensive line coach, according to Wilson. Thomas has coached defensive linemen at San Diego State and spent time at Lamar and Texas A&M University-Kingsville, as well. In addition, the Browns added Jeff Anderson to the staff as a defensive quality control coach.
- Staying in the Buckeye State, recent 2021 NFL runner-ups the Bengals have made a move to replace former linebackers coach Al Golden. Golden is headed back to the college coaching ranks to become Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, former NFL defensive coordinator James Bettcher will fill the role. After time as the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals and Giants, Bettcher spent last season as a senior defensive assistant in San Francisco.
- Staying in the AFC North, Baltimore brought in former Texans’ offensive line coach Mike Devlin to become the Ravens’ assistant offensive line coach, according to Wilson. Devlin coached big men for the Jets before Houston and at Toledo before that. The Ravens will certainly welcome the help for an offensive line that frequently had quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley scrambling for their lives last year.
- Lastly, the Chargers have hired 49ers’ kicker Robbie Gould‘s kid brother Chris Gould. The 36-year-old was a former kicker in the Arena Football League and will be the Chargers’ assistant special teams coach, a role he’s held for the past five seasons for the Broncos. Additionally, the Chargers have hired Brendan Nugent as their new offensive line coach. Last year was Nugent’s first year coaching offensive linemen in the NFL in his seventh year with the Saints. He’ll 17 years of NFL coaching experience to Los Angeles.
NFC Coaching Notes: Rams, Hankerson, Lions, Commanders, Packers, Giants
University of Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen has received heaps of interest around the football world, turning down several college jobs and an NFL job to stay in Lexington. But it sounds as if Coen may soon receive an offer he can’t refuse.
In one year at the helm of the offense, Coen took the Wildcats from 115th in yards per game to 50th. He also improved the scoring offense from 107th in the country to 35th, quickly making him one of the hottest names in college coaching.
It just about looked like Kentucky was going to be able to hold on to their game changer, but, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, they are bracing for the possibility of Coen leaving to return to the Rams in Los Angeles. Prior to his year in Kentucky, Coen spent three years on Sean McVay‘s offensive staff, and a chance to rejoin McVay may be too good to pass up.
Here are a couple more coaching notes from the NFC starting with the promotion of a former Hurricane:
- With wide receivers coach Wes Welker heading to Miami, the 49ers have offered the position to offensive quality control coach Leonard Hankerson, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. After a five-year career as an NFL wide receiver out of the University of Miami, Hankerson coached wide receivers at UMass and Stephen F. Austin before joining the staff in San Francisco last year.
- The Lions have parted ways with inside linebacker coach Mark DeLeone this week, according to Justin Rogers of The Detroit News. The son of offensive line coach legend George DeLeone, Mark was hired by Detroit last year after time with the Jets, Chiefs, and Bears. They have two internal candidates who could potentially fill the role: defensive quality control coach Stephen Thomas, who coached inside linebackers in his time at Princeton, and director of football research David Corrao who coached linebackers for the Dolphins during his time in Miami from 2008-2015.
- With longtime assistant coach Pete Hoener retiring, the Commanders are hiring veteran coach Juan Castillo to handle tight ends, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Castillo is rejoining Ron Rivera, who coached with him for the five seasons Rivera was in Philadelphia from 1999-2003. Castillo has also spent time with the Ravens, Bills, and Bears in various roles on the offensive staff.
- With their outside linebacker coach Mike Smith leaving to pursue other opportunities, the Packers have hired Jason Rebrovich as his replacement. The 20-year NFL coaching veteran has had stints with the Bills and Jaguars coaching players like Josh Allen, Calais Campbell, and Yannick Ngakoue. In addition, the Packers also announced the return of former offensive coordinator Tom Clements to replace Luke Getsy as quarterbacks coach, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. Clements coached for the Packers’ offense for 11 years before retiring after two years with the Cardinals.
- The Giants have hired Angela Baker as a minority coaching fellow and offensive quality control coach, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Baker is the second female to be added to Brian Daboll‘s staff after Laura Young followed Daboll from Buffalo, where she worked as player services coordinator, for the position of director of coaching operations. The Giants are quickly trying to become a more progressive staff. In 2020, Hannah Burnett was hired as the team’s first full-time female scout.
Giants’ Andrew Thomas Had Offseason Ankle Surgery
There was an update on the health status of Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas recently. As Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports, Thomas underwent ankle surgery late last month (Twitter link). 
Duggan notes that it’s the same ankle that was injured in his rookie season, which is a worrying sign. Still, all parties involved hope that this second procedure will put an end to the problem. The 23-year-old landed on injured reserve in October as a result of the nagging ailment. He ended up missing four games, after playing the full 16 games of his rookie campaign, including 15 starts.
The fourth overall pick out of Georgia in 2020, Thomas didn’t perform at a level on par with such a high draft slot or his pedigree coming out of college. However, he showed a great deal of improvement in year two, allowing only two sacks in pass protection; that led to an impressive PFF grade of 82.8. His absence, when injured, was felt for a Giants offensive line that has struggled to find consistency in recent years.
Duggan notes that Thomas is expected to have fully recovered in time for the Giants’ offseason program. However, he adds that the team “will likely exercise caution” given both his injury history and overall importance to the franchise.
Giants To Hire Bryan Cox
- Bryan Cox is back on an NFL staff. The Giants are hiring the former NFL linebacker, per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com. Cox will be the Giants’ assistant D-line coach under Don Martindale. This will be Cox’s first NFL gig since the Falcons fired him following Super Bowl LI five years ago.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/15/22
Today’s Reserve/Futures deals signed in the NFL:
Cincinnati Bengals
- CB John Brannon, QB Jake Browning, C Lamont Gaillard, S Trayvon Henderson, RB Elijah Holyfield, TE Thaddeus Moss, DE Noah Spence, TE Scotty Washington, WR Pooka Williams
Los Angeles Rams
- WR Landen Akers, T Chandler Brewer, DB Antoine Brooks Jr., DE Earnest Brown IV, DB Tyler Hall, RB Javian Hawkins, G Jeremiah Kolone, WR J.J. Koski, TE Kyle Markway, DB Kareem Orr, T Max Pircher, DE Jonah Williams
New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC Coaching Notes: Giants, Seahawks, Bears
Brian Daboll is naturally making some changes to the Giants coaching staff. Per Aaron Wilson on Twitter (detailed in four tweets), the Giants have hired Drew Wilkins as linebackers coach, Christian Jones as an offensive assistant, Laura Young as director of coaching operations, Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach, Shea Tierney as quarterbacks coach, DeAndre Smith as running backs coach, Mike Groh as wide receivers coach, Andy Bischoff as tight ends coach, Tony Sparano Jr. as assistant offensive line coach, and Andre Patterson as defensive line coach.
Daboll also retained a handful of holdovers from Joe Judge’s staff. That grouping includes Jerome Henderson (defensive backs coach), Mike Treier (assistant defensive backs coach), Anthony Blevins (special teams assistant), and Nick Williams (special teams quality control coach).
Finally, the Giants shifted Ryan Hollern to college scouting coordinator and named Mark Loecher as assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Some more coaching notes out of the NFC…
- The Seahawks will promote Andy Dickerson to their offensive line coach, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson (via Twitter). Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron recruited Dickerson from the Rams last offseason, with Dickerson earning the role of run-game coordinator. Now, he’ll earn the (apparent) promotion to OL coach. The Seahawks fired former offensive line coach Mike Solari last week, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). This was the 67-year-old’s second stint with the organization, and he had served as the team’s OL coach since 2018.
- The Bears announced last week that they hired Carlos Polk as their assistant special teams coach. The 44-year-old coach has served in the same role with a handful of teams, including the Chargers, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He spent the 2021 campaign in Jacksonville.
- The Cardinals have hired Matt Burke as their defensive line coach, reports Pelissero (on Twitter). The 45-year-old was the Dolphins defensive coordinator between 2017 and 2018, and he most recently worked for the Jets as a “game management coach.” Burke has also had coaching stints with the Eagles, Bengals, Lions, and Titans.
- The Vikings have hired Brian Angelichio as their pass game coordinator/tight ends coach, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter). Angelichio spent the past two years as the Panthers tight ends coach, so he’s getting a slight promotion in Minnesota. Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the Vikings are hiring Jerrod Johnson as an offensive assistant. Johnson is expected to work with the QBs. The coach was a two-time participant in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, and he spent last season as the Colts quality control coach.
- Matt Rhule has made some changes to his staff. The Panthers announced that they’ve hired Joe Dailey as wide receivers coach. Dailey has spent the past two seasons as Boston College’s offensive coordinator. Meanwhile, Robert Kugler was hired as assistant offensive line coach while defensive analyst Kevin Gilbride Jr. was promoted to TE coach (replacing Angelichio).
Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order
With Super Bowl LVI finished, the final two places in the 2022 Draft have been finalized. The Bengals’ top pick is locked into 31st, while the Rams will not have a selection until the third round. For the rest of the league, the focus has already shifted to free agency and the draft, of course, so now all eyes will be on the offseason maneuvering teams do to reshape their rosters.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.
Pending trades, here is the final first round order of the 2022 Draft:
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
- Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
- Houston Texans: 4-13
- New York Jets: 4-13
- New York Giants: 4-13
- Carolina Panthers: 5-12
- New York Giants(via Bears)
- Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
- Denver Broncos: 7-10
- New York Jets (via Seahawks)
- Washington Football Team: 7-10
- Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
- Cleveland Browns: 8-9
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
- Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
- Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
- New Orleans Saints: 9-8
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
- New England Patriots: 10-7
- Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
- Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
- Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
- Buffalo Bills: 11-6
- Tennessee Titans: 12-5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
- Green Bay Packers: 13-4
- Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
- Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7
- Detroit Lions (via Rams)
AFC Coaching Notes: Colts, Bills, Jaguars, Ravens
Since Frank Reich was able to land defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to replace Bears’ head coach Matt Eberflus, Bradley has begun the process of putting his staff together. Today Bradley added longtime defensive backs coach Ron Milus to coach his secondary, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Milus first started coaching defensive backs at his alma mater, the University of Washington, about eight years after playing cornerback there. He held the college position for seven years before getting an NFL coaching opportunity in 2000. Since then, Milus hasn’t spent a season out of work with stints in Denver, Arizona, New York (Giants), St. Louis, Carolina, San Diego, and Las Vegas. His longest stint was with the Chargers, spending eight years in southern California and transitioning with the team to Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles that Milus was retained when Bradley joined the Chargers’ staff. He followed Bradley to Las Vegas and will join him once more in Indianapolis.
Here are a few other coaching notes from around the AFC starting with another bit from the Hoosier State:
- In addition to Milus, Mike Chappell of Fox59 reports that Indianapolis is also in the process of hiring linebackers coach Richard Smith, who worked with Bradley and Milus in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Smith has coached in the NFL since he debuted for the Houston Oilers in 1988 coaching special teams and tight ends. He found his niche as a linebackers coach in 1997 for the 49ers and has had three short stints as a defensive coordinator in Miami, Houston, and Atlanta.
- ESPN’s Yates also tweeted out a report that the Bills have added former QB Kyle Shurmur on staff in a defensive quality control position. After four years at Vanderbilt, Shurmur signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs, spending time on their practice squad as well as on the Bengals’ and Washington’s practice squads. He was released by Washington a little over a month ago and that appears to mark the end of his playing career. He seems to be following in the footsteps of his father, Pat Shurmur, and joining the coaching track.
- A castaway from the Matt Nagy Bears’ staff, outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey will not be without work for long as Curtis Crabtree of NBC Sports reports that Shuey is joining Doug Pederson‘s staff in Jacksonville in the same role. Shuey and Pederson had two separate tenures together in Philadelphia.
- Pederson also made a crucial move of retaining running backs coach Bernie Parmalee. Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network tells us that keeping Parmalee was a priority for Pederson, especially due to his strong relationship with star running back James Robinson.
- Baltimore has hired Rob Leonard as outside linebackers coach, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley (Twitter). Leonard will replace Drew Wilkins who left to join Brian Daboll‘s staff in New York. Leonard spent the past three seasons in the same position with the Dolphins. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic adds that former Michigan analyst Ryan Osborn will follow Mike Macdonald to the Ravens for a quality control position. Osborn is credited with having a role in the development of Wolverines’ EDGE players like Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo.
Giants Notes: Cap, Martinez, Shepard, Staff
The Giants doled out a few big-ticket contracts in free agency during Dave Gettleman‘s final years as GM, handing out deals to James Bradberry, Blake Martinez, Kenny Golladay and Adoree’ Jackson. Those contracts are among those that have pushed the Giants over the projected 2022 salary cap. The Giants are more than $11MM over the cap, and GM Joe Schoen told NBC Sports’ Peter King last month he wants to clear about $40MM in cap space before the start of the new league year.
“It’s a concern, and it’s real. There are going to be difficult decisions that are going to have to be made,” Schoen said recently, via SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano.
Some cap-casualty candidates include Martinez, Sterling Shepard and Kyle Rudolph. Despite Martinez delivering his usual high-end tackle production in 2020, the veteran linebacker suffered an ACL tear in September. Martinez might need to take a pay cut to stay, Vacchiano offers, though the 28-year-old linebacker is only attached to an $8.4MM salary. Cutting Martinez would save the Giants more than $8MM, while an expected Rudolph ouster will add $5MM to that total. As a post-June 1 cut, Shepard’s release saves nearly $9MM. Shepard is the Giants’ longest-tenured player, arriving as a second-round 2016 pick, but has battled injuries for much of his career. Bradberry serves as Big Blue’s No. 1 cornerback, though Vacchiano adds he should not be considered a lock to be part of next year’s team. A post-June 1 designation makes a Bradberry release worth $13MM. Of course, the Giants would run into a major cornerback need in the event they cut Bradberry. The ex-Panther’s three-year, $45MM deal expires after next season.
Here is the latest from the rebuilding team:
- Schoen will not retain one of Gettlemen’s top front office lieutenants. Co-director of player personnel Mark Koncz is not coming back, per the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy (on Twitter). Koncz followed Gettleman to New York in 2017, doing so after spending nearly 25 years with the Panthers. Koncz worked with Carolina before the franchise’s 1995 debut and stayed on through a few GMs, finishing up his tenure as the Panthers’ director of pro scouting from 2000-2017.
- More new staffers are bound for New York. The expected hire of ex-Ravens outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins indeed took place, with the Giants also hiring ex-Bills assistant John Egorugwu to coach their inside ‘backers. Egorugwu, 35, was on Sean McDermott‘s staff for four years before spending the 2021 season at Vanderbilt. The first name mentioned as a staff candidate once Don Martindale took over as Giants DC, Wilkins, 34, worked with the Ravens for 10 years and spent the past two as their outside linebackers coach.
- The Giants are also adding to Brian Daboll‘s staff from the college ranks, hiring DeAndre Smith as their new running backs coach. Smith comes from Texas Tech and has never coached in the NFL before, spending more than 20 seasons at the college level. This move comes after the Giants offered the job to ex-Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough, per The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman (on Twitter). Notre Dame just hired McCullough, who spent the 2021 season at Indiana after coaching the Chiefs’ running backs for the previous three years, for new HC Marcus Freeman’s staff.