Jan 102018
 
Steve Wilks, Carolina Panthers (September

Steve Wilks – © USA TODAY Sports

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GIANTS HEAD COACHING SEARCH UPDATE…
The New York Giants have officially announced that team President/CEO John Mara, General Manager Dave Gettleman, and Assistant General Manager Kevin Abrams have interviewed the following head coaching candidates:

  • New York Giants Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo (on January 3)
  • New England Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia (on January 5)
  • New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels (on January 5)
  • Minnesota Vikings Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur (on January 6)
  • Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks (on January 9)
  • Denver Broncos Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville (on January 10)

Team Chairman/Executive Vice President Steve Tisch was also present for the interview with Wilks.

As of today, no other interviews are known to have been scheduled.

The 43-year old Patricia has spent his entire professional coaching career with the Patriots (starting in 2004) and has been New England’s defensive coordinator since 2012. The Detroit Lions are said to be front runners for Patricia’s services, although SI.com is reporting that Patricia favors the Giants.

The 41-year old McDaniels not only has served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and quarterback coach (2006-2008, 2012-2017) in recent years but he also was the head coach of the Denver Broncos (2009-2010) where he compiled an 11-17 (.393) record. The Indianapolis Colts are also interested in McDaniels.

In recent years, the 52-year old Shurmur has served as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach (2002-2008), St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator (2009-2010), Cleveland Browns head coach (2011-2012), Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator (2013-2015), and Vikings tight ends coach (2016). Shurmur was promoted to Vikings offensive coordinator in 2017. He also served as interim head coach for the Eagles in 2015. Shurmur has drawn interest from the Lions and Arizona Cardinals.

The 48-year old Wilks has served as as a defensive backs coach with the Washington Redskins (2005), Chicago Bears (2006-2008), San Diego Chargers (2009-2011), and Panthers (2012-2016). He was also named an assistant head coach of the Panthers in 2016 and promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017. Wilks was scheduled to interview with the Cardinals on Wednesday and the Colts on Thursday.

The 50-year old Studesville served as the Giants’ running back coach under Head Coach Jim Fassel (2001-2003) before going on to hold the same position with the Buffalo Bills (2004-2009) and Broncos (2010-2017). Studesville also served as interim head coach of the Broncos for four games in 2010 and became an assistant head coach in 2017.

GIANTS COACHES MOVING ON…
Members of Ben McAdoo’s coaching staff have begun moving on to new jobs:

  • Denver Broncos have hired Giants Offensive Coordinator Mike Sullivan as their quarterbacks coach.
  • Green Bay Packers have hired Giants Quarterbacks Coach Frank Cignetti, Jr. as their quarterbacks coach.
  • Green Bay Packers are interviewing Giants Defensive Line Coach Patrick Graham.

GIANTS SIGN THREE MORE TO RESERVE/FUTURES CONTRACTS…
The New York Giants have signed running back Jalen Simmons, offensive tackle Laurence Gibson, and linebacker Thurston Armbrister to reserve/futures contracts.

Simmons was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Carolina Panthers after the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent the 2016 on the Practice Squad of the Panthers and spent time in 2017 on the Practice Squads of the Panthers and San Diego Chargers. Simmons is a short, stocky running back who lacks ideal speed, but he plays with a low center of gravity and good vision.

Gibson was originally drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He has spent time with the Cowboys (2015), Chiefs (2015), Falcons (2016), Bears (2016), Giants (2016), Texans (2016-2017), and Browns (2017). The Giants signed him to their Practice Squad in September 2016 and cut him a few months later in December. He has yet to play in a regular-season game. Gibson is a very athletic lineman with good height and long arms. A better testing athlete than football player so far, Gibson needs to play with more strength and power.

Armbrister was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars after the 2015 NFL Draft. He has spent time with the Jaguars (2015) and Detroit Lions (2016-2017). Armbrister has played in 30 regular-season games with five starts, and has accumulated 38 tackles and one pass defense. He did not play in a regular-season game in 2017. Armbrister lacks ideal size and athleticism, but he is a good run defender with fine intangibles.

ARTICLES…

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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