Giants Hire Danny Langsdorf as QB Coach; Reassign Ryan and Gilbride

The Offense Will Have a New Look in 2014 – © USA TODAY Sports Images

New York Giants Officially Hire Danny Langsdorf as Quarterbacks Coach; Reassign Sean Ryan and Kevin M. Gilbride: The Giants officially announced on Monday that they have hired Danny Langsdorf as their new quarterbacks coach. Since 2005, Langsdorf has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon State University.

Sean Ryan, who served as the Giants quarterback coach in 2012-13, will now coach the wide receivers again. Ryan was the Giants wide receivers coach in 2010-11.

Kevin M. Gilbride, who served as the Giants wide receivers coach in 2012-13, will now coach the tight ends. Gilbride is the son of recently-retired Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

So to summarize the offseason coaching moves: offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride retired and tight ends coach Mike Pope and running backs coach Jerald Ingram were fired. Ben McAdoo was hired as the team’s new offensive coordinator, Langsdorf as the new quarterbacks coach, and Craig Johnson as the new running backs coach. Ryan and Gilbride were reassigned. The only offensive coaches who will return in the same position are offensive line coach Pat Flaherty, assistant offensive line coach Lunda Wells, and offensive assistant Ryan Roeder.

“I like the makeup of our offensive staff,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin.  “There are some obvious and very good offensive thoughts here. And then you bring in Ben McAdoo…I’m excited about that part of it as well. I think the combination of the fundamentals, the innovative ideas and concepts coming from the new coaches, combined with the coaches that we have here that are fundamentalists and very good coaches in their own right, I’m excited about this spring as we put together our identity as an offensive team again. First and foremost, it’s going to be good for our players.”

“For me, it’s just a great opportunity to be able to work with a great quarterback,” Langsdorf said. “I know he is looking for improvement off of last year. I’m looking forward to a new challenge and to live in a new part of the country. I was never in New York for any reason up until the interview (with Coughlin). I think it’s kind of a neat opportunity for me and my family to experience a different part of the world and just a new challenge, so we’re very excited about that. And getting back to the NFL was something that was appealing to me.”

“When I went through the process of studying his years at Oregon State, I was very impressed with the number of quarterbacks that were highly, highly productive in the Oregon State program, including redshirt freshmen,” Coughlin said. “And also in the years, with Jacquizz Rodgers, for example, they ran the ball. So he has adapted to a lot of different things. Then when I had the opportunity to interview him, I would take specific areas in which I think the college game is doing a darn good job, and his ability to relate and teach in these areas, I thought, was outstanding.

“The one thing that is very impressive is that Ben and Danny are fundamentalists, first and foremost, in how they teach. They both have extensive quarterback film and drill work which they teach off of and which relate to the fundamentals of the game – how you drop, how you set, how you save time, how you become more efficient, where’s the ball, where do you carry the ball, where’s your front foot. When the quarterbacks report back here, that is a very, very good way to start the progression of how the quarterback is developed fundamentally so he can contribute at the highest level in this form of offensive package. I’m very interested in that.”

“(Eli’s disappointing season) was a very important part of our conversation and the interview,” Langsdorf said. “He knows he’s got it in him, he’s played great football at times, but I think he had a little bit of an off year, a lot of turnovers. That’s something that we have to correct, do a better job in taking care of the ball and he stressed that, the importance of that for our entire team. That was part of the discussion, for sure, as well as developing some young guys to back him up.”

Neither Langdorf nor Coughlin think Langdorf’s collegiate coaching background will be an issue.

“I think really just working, getting back to the fundamentals and teaching the details of the position and implementing a new system are all things that are going to be fun to work with Eli on. With Ben and what he’s presenting as a package for the Giants, I think all of those things together will be smooth. I think coaching is teaching, and I think if you’re a good teacher, you should be able to do that and teach well and communicate well at any level.”

“I think there is something to be said for taking some of the ideas that you see are most prevalent at the college level and bringing that to our game,” Coughlin said. “And the combination is very interesting to me.”

Langsdorf and McAdoo worked together for one season on the coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints.

“We’ve kept in touch through the years,” Langsdorf said. “We haven’t been together for a long time. Gosh, I’ve been out here for nine years now at Oregon State, so we’ve been apart for a while. But it’s always good to reconnect. Ben has had a great career and I’m excited to have a chance to work with him. He’s worked with some outstanding coaches and has been able to coach some great players, which has been a good experience for him. He’s excited about the challenge and what he’s got in front of him. I’m really looking forward to working with him. He’s got a lot of energy and a lot of passion and detail and I think his system is going to have quite a bit of change from back in the New Orleans days. But there are going to be some similarities with that system. I’m just really looking forward to working with him.”

For a complete overview of the coaching staff and their respective resumes, see the Coaching Staff section of the website.

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