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NEW YORK GIANTS ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO OPERATIONS AND COACHING STAFF…
The New York Giants have announced the following changes to their football operations and coaching staff:
Dr. Lani Lawrence has been hired for the newly-created Director of Wellness and Clinical Services. She will also oversee the team’s Player Engagement/Development Program. Lawrence was previously a clinical and sport psychologist at the University of Southern California as well as serving as a member of the USA Track & Field sport psychology group.
Lawrence has assumed the duties previously held by David Tyree, who for the past six years had served as Director of Player Engagement/Development. The re-structured program will also include Assistant Director Ashley Lynn, Outside Linebackers Coach/Senior Assistant Bret Bielema, Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey, and Special Assistant Jessie Armstead. This department falls under the umbrella of Senior Vice President of Medical Services Ronnie Barnes.
“When I say player engagement, I literally mean engaging with our players, which is really hard with everything that’s currently going on in the country – the virtual learning, with our athletes not being able to come to the facility,” said Lawrence. “What I was tasked to do was to make our rookies better. But also to make the players better. I’m fortunate that everybody within the organization has those same goals, from ownership to the head coach to the people that I work with in player development.
“My primary role is to not only be a support, but to help players be a better person in general. A whole person, not just a better athlete. If they’re better in their personal lives, if they have better connections with their teammates, with their spouses or people close to them, if they’re living healthy lives, ultimately, the reward is that they’re going to be a better athlete. I get to support the players emotionally, physically and mentally, and my hope is that it translates onto the field.”
Ed Triggs is now the Director of Football Operations. He had served as the team’s Football Operations Coordinator since 2016. Triggs will be responsible for managing the salary cap, assisting in contract negotiations, Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) compliance, and working with the pro scouting, college scouting, coaching, and the data and innovation staffs.
Ty Siam is now the Director of Football Data & Innovation, after serving with the team in other capacities since 2015.
“Football, from a technological perspective, has been moving at a rapid pace to build a data fluidity that can be utilized across multiple groups,” Siam said. “For us, that’s our college and pro scouts, our coaching staff, it’s our strength and conditioning staff and our medical and performance teams. We had gotten to a point where we had such a vast amount of data internally and a number of different audiences were looking at it from various points of view. We thought it was really important to centralize the way we distribute information to all of those groups. That was really the big impetus.
“From a video and data standpoint, how do we get the most meaningful information in front of our decision makers on a regular basis? Sometimes it’s low-hanging fruit, sometimes it’s much more complex with some of the analysis and modeling we’re doing. But if we can effectively get the most appropriate information in front of our decision makers on a regular basis, then I think that’s how we’ll earmark success in this category.”
Courtney Kennedy is now a Football Data Analyst, after serving as an intern with the team in 2019. “I’ve been helping all different football departments,” Kennedy said. “Anything from scouting to the medical team to coaching, a variety of database statistical projects.”
Marquis Pendleton has been shifted from the team’s scout in the BLESTO scouting combine to an area scout. “I’m excited. It’s a new challenge for me,” Pendleton said. “It gives me an opportunity to grow within a different area, see different players, meet different people within the industry and different coaches.”
Blaise Bell is now the new BLESTO scout, after serving as an intern with the team in 2019.
Hannah Burnett has been hired as the new Midlands scout, after serving almost two years with the scouting department of the Atlanta Falcons. Burnett is the franchise’s first full-time female scout.
“I completely understand and am aware that this is an awesome opportunity, and it’s important for females in the league,” said Burnett. “But I’ve said this from the get-go, I just want to be the best area scout that I can. I want to go in there like everyone else goes in there and go about my business like a pro. Everything else will work itself out if I go about my business the right way. For me, that’s my mindset. It’s always been my mindset. I’m just continuing to stay on that course.”
Craig Fitzgerald has been hired as the Director of Strength and Performance. He has served in a similar capacity with Harvard University (2005-2009), University of South Carolina (2009-2011), Penn State University (2012-2013), Houston Texans (2014-2017), and the University of Tennessee (2018-2020).
Sam Coad has been hired as the Performance Manager/Assistant Strength Coach. An Australian, Coad has served in a similar capacity with the University of Michigan (2014-2015), University of Oklahoma (2015-2017), and Texas A&M University (2018-2019).
Nick Williams has been hired as an offensive assistant. He has previously served as wide receivers coach at Jacksonville State University (2014-2016) and Southern Illinois University (2017-2019).
