Giants Hire Sean Spencer as DL Coach

Joe Judge has added long time Penn State DL coach Sean Spencer to his staff as DL Coach. This looks like another great hire for the first Judge staff. Spencer has lead incredibly impressive D lines at PSU. He's also a great recruiter who was able to "reload" rather than rebuild. Like Colombo on the OL side, Spencer is high energy and relatable, but also exacting. This is just another really impressive hire, and a great recovery from the apparent loss of Freddie Roach earlier in the process. We'll see if the Giants ever confirm any of these hires.

Giants Hire Mike Treier

 

The Giants are apparently hiring Mike Treier.  Mike has been a CB Coach and a Safeties coach variously at Marshall and Florida State.  He started out at Temple in 2013, so is he on the Rhule Tree?   He was also a DC at Tennessee-Martin for a spell.  He's in his early 30s and he'll probably either coach CB's or Safeties, and he was also a big time recruiter for Marcshal and FSU.  He connects with the kids. Now what team has a bunch of kid corners?

Giants Coaching Update

This morning, Marc Colombo was confirmed for OL, Kevin Sherrer was confirmed for ILB, Joby Wright was confirmed for a Defensive Coaching role and Derek Dooley was confirmed for an Offensive Coaching role. Now, Bruce Feldman is reporting that Freddie Kitchens is expected to be TE Coach.  This is developing.

Dooley's a new name in the hunt, but he might be destined for whatever they had in mind for Scott Linehan.  In the past he had been a Saban TE coach at LSU and Cleveland. He's also coached TE's for Jason Garrett. Dooley was also a head coach at Tennessee and Louisiana Tech. Before the latest Kitchens news, it seemed he might be destined for TE's.  He's also the son of legendary Georgia Coach Vince Dooley.

This Week on the Blog

The Yanks celebrated Jeter, the Giants celebrated El, the Rangers are on their All Star Break and the Knicks are still the Knicks. Let's see what could be coming up this week.

Yankees: Last week, Brian Cashman reported JA Happ will the our 5th starter. This rings of "Enrique Wilson is our third baseman," and "Bubba Crosby is our Centerfielder."  In other words, and trade will probably still happen. Remember, the ARod deal happened over Valentine weekend 16 years ago, that mean Enrique Wilson was not our 3B. So we'll see. A trade could still happen.

Giants: Eli retired, and now the team really does belong to Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. It would be nice to get a few of those on D.  Meanwhile, Coach Judge, who might have already hired everyone, will tell us who they are. The expectation was that he'd get it done before the Senior Bowl, but we still don't know who the DL, TE or possibly Safety coaches are. There also might be passing game or run game coordinators.  We'll see.

Rangers: The Rangers are off for a few more days. Today it was announced that they have loaned Lias Andersson  to HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League. This has been a crazy year for some of the kids.  Meanwhile, they have about 12 games until the trade deadline and they are about 10 points out of a playoff spot. So how they play will determine whether they will buy or sell.  And it will be nice if they can convince Hank to accept a trade, and keep the kids.

Knicks: RJ Barrett is still out, so there's not much point in watching them. They've got a trade deadline coming up, and we'll see what they can get for some of the short contracts they signed in July.

So there it is, kind of slow.  Hope it's great for all of you.

Giants Coaching Update

We just learned that the University of Tennessee's DC, Kevin Sherrer is joining the Giants as their new Inside Linebackers coach. Earlier it was clarified the Bret Bielema will be Outside Linebackers Coach/Senior Assistant.  So the linebackers are covered.  Sherrer was Director or Player Development at Alabama when just was there, and OLB coach at Georgia when Lorenzo Carter was there.  Now he'll be coaching Connolly and TBD.  Still, this is just the latest example of Judge choosing from a trusted brand, as well as choosing a former colleague.

In other news,  Ben Wilkerson is sticking around as Assistant OL Coach to Marc Colombo. Interestingly Colombo was a Tackle and Wilkerson was and award winning college Guard who went undrafted.  They should have all the fundamentals down.

In still more news, Aaron Wellman, the Strength and Conditioning Coach since McAdoo, is sticking around.  But he has a new assistant in Sam Coat, who's title is Performance Manager/Assistant Strength Coach.  This and Bielema's Senior Assistant title are new for the Giants.

So it will be interesting to see if they add Run or Pass coordinator types along with the still needed TE, DL, possibly S or CB, and quality control coaches.

Giants Hiring Marc Colombo for OL

They didn't get Bill Callahan who would rather not work with Jason Garrett again, but got someone who recently did and will again.  Marc Colombo was an OL for the Cowboys not so long ago, and now is turning out to be one of the better youngish OL coaches in the league.  Callahan's in his 60s.  Ironically, I think Colombo was mocked to the Giants in many places in his draft year.  Now he's finally here.  He took full charge of the Cowboys OL midway through this past season and really upped their performance.  The Giants need a serious talent upgrade along the OL, but one should be coming as Judge at the Senior Bowl talked about laying the foundation in year one. Let's go!

Eli Manning to Retire

It's true.  The two time Super Bowl winner and MVP will never wear another team's shirt.  And that exactly how it should be.  Had Jerry Reese restocked the OL like EVER Eli would have had a vastly more productive second half. And, of course there should have been at least one more ring - but Plax and Pierce had to hit the town one night. Still, he retires with 2 rings and in top 10 in most of the important passing categories. It's kind of amazing he lasted as long as he did giving the state of the line which started it's decline in 2009. He is without a doubt, one of the two greatest Giants of all time, and the only one of the two who was impeccable and he deserves to be enshrined in Canton.  Unless he buys a team, that's the next big step for a true champion.

Giants Also Hiring Jody Wright

So the Giants are also hiring Jody Wright for an unspecified job with the offense.  He has a couple of different connections to Judge, particularly Saban, but was also on Freddie Kitchens' staff last year in Cleveland.  He's another former director of Player Personnel for Alabama, and OL Coach for UAB.  He also worked at Mississippi State, like Judge. He was a Running Back as a player and could be offensive quality control or some other new fangled job.  They're still meeting with Colombo tomorrow, so it doesn't seem that this will be the OL coach.

Giants Hire Kitchens for TE's?

Turns out Judge is hiring his old Mississippi State pal, Freddie Kitchens, most likely to coach Tight Ends, a spot where he's had some success. And even worked as TE Coach for Parcells, before eventually escalating to the role of Cleveland Head Coach last year. He was too stubborn, there but as a position coach, if he can teach it right and teach them all, he should be fine.

Derek Jeter Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

As expected and as his career demanded.  Congrats, Cap.  Thanks for the memories.

Giants Are Hiring Bret Bielema

The Giants are hiring former Wisconsin and Arkansas Head Coach, but most recently, New England's DL coach for a place on the staff. We could assume that it is DL coach, but it hasn't been specified, and as we've discussed there are new titles all over the field and he could be either defensive run game coordinator to pass rush coordinator - just as easily.  Now we're drawing once again from the Belichick tree and doubling down with a Kirk Ferentz assistant and you'll recall Kirk was Bill's great OL Coach in Cleveland - on what might have been the greatest staff to never win a title. Anyway, we'll see what the job is. He is a legit tough guy.

UPDATE: Looks like it will be Outside Backers, with another title like Pass Rush Coordinator or Special Advisor or something.

Giants Hire Jerome Henderson for DB's

The Giants today, or recently and we're just learning about it, have hired ex-Falcons passing defense coordinator, Jerome Henderson.  This is the first coach they have hired who was not on a Saban or Belichick staff before.  However; before spend the past few years with the Falcons, he was Jason Garrett's DB's coach in Dallas for 4 seasons.  Also, he started out as a Jets player development coach. So, Judge wants teachers and it looks like he's gotten and other, and by god, all those kid corners we've picked up over the last two years need a better teacher.

As the staff comes together, it will be interesting to see if it is a bigger staff than the last one.  A lot of team are now adding passing game coordinators and run game coordinators on both sides of the ball.  So we'll see if they do that.

This Week on the Blog

This has been an interesting week: MLB recognized that the Yankees got jobbed at least once, while evidence has surfaced that it was actually twice, the Giants hired a pair of Ivy League coordinators, the Rangers have have won 4 of their last 5, and the Knicks have knicked and now RJ Barrett is on the shelf. Let's see what's could be coming this week.

Yankees: the Yanks have been chasing 28, and now we find it's not team composition that's been foiling them, but institutional cheating by the Astros and probably the Red Sox. If this doesn't infuriate your, you must be Buddha.  And if you're not further incensed that MLB hasn't stripped their title and player awards, you might be the second coming of Christ.  They've stolen two or three years of our baseball lives.

Meanwhile, the Yanks haven't made a trade. Maybe their too busy with legal briefs.

Giants: Joe Judge wasn't kidding about hiring teachers. Patrick Graham went to Yale and Jason Garrett went to Princeton. Might I remind you that the Ivy League doesn't give out athletic scholarships, though that can probably be worked around as Daniel Jones said he chose walking on at Duke over a full ride at Princeton - which might have meant he was a great student in a separate discipline or 4.

Meanwhile, the hunt for more position coaches and maybe some new titles like passing game coordinator or run game coordinator.  They have added RB coach Burton Burns to WR Tyke Tolbert, and still need a TE coach as well as to fill the all important OL job. Callahan would be nice.

Rangers: the Rangers are 4-1 lately and that represents 2 wins each for Shesterkin and Georgiev and one loss by Lundqvist. Hank's no movement clause has stymied the Ranger rebuild and now threatens to cause the loss of better and younger players because of the cap consequences.  One of whom is Georgiev, whom the Maple Leafs seem to feel entitled to buy low on. Instead, the Rangers should keep Georgiev, and tell Hank he's not getting any more starts. The let's see if Hank is will to drop his NMC. While it seems "mean" the Rangers are in possession of two young, talented goalies, who don't cost money yet.  This time should belong to them.

Knicks: the Knicks are still too up and down. and now they've lost RJ Barrett, with a sprained ankle, and he had really been coming on. Trade rumors abound, the Dolan should not allow Mills to make another trade.  

So there we are.  Yanks should sue, Giants need to fill out a staff, the Rangers need to go with the kids in goal, and the Knicks need the summer to come.   Have a great one.

Judge Hired Alabama's Burton Burns for RB's

Plucking once again from the Saban tree- the Giant have hired 67 year old Burton Burns as their RB coach.  Burns was a full back for Nebraska back in the early 70's when all they did was run the ball. He's gone on to a long and distinguished career at places like Tulane, Clemson and Alabama - where he has spent the last 10 years. He's never coached in the North before, so this could be fun.  Of course, over the past 10 years, the Tide have contributed a number of backs to the NFL, and now he'll get to work with the best, in Saquon Barkley. Another teacher.

Judge Hires Jason Garrett to be Offensive Coordinator

After a what seemed like a protracted search, it is now seeping out that the Giants have indeed hired former Giant Jason Garrett to be their new OC.  This isn't as defaulty as it might seems given circumstances, and a lot will depend on how the rest of the offensive staff rounds out, especially OL coach and if there will or will not be a passing game or running game coordinator hired.  Scott Linehan is reportedly coming in for a meeting - and that would seem to be for a non-preexisting passing game coordinator spot.

Anyway, out for Jerry Jones what are we getting here in terms of an OC.  First remember that he played in systems designed by Norv Turner, Jim Fassel and Sean Payton.  And he was probably paying attention - because Nick Saban hired him for his staff with Miami - which connects him to Judge.  

Judge may have preferred OC Scott Daboll of the Bills, but they weren't given permission to talk to him.  Judge knew Daboll from their years together under Belichick. But if Garrett can bring the totality of his knowledge into play he should be a boon to the staff as they piece together a way to make this Jones/Barkley combo explode.

Now, rumors had it that he might be bringing a coach or two with him, but let's see.

Graham Cleans House

The Giants new Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach, Patrick Graham is working fast.  Not only did he bring roach right in for his old Giant job, but it doesn't look like he's keeping and of the past staff as Henry Baker, Bill McGovern and Gary Emmanuel won't be back. This seems right and just, but, this move is only as good as the replacements he can bring in.  Strange that there's still no OC, and of course, the identity of the all important new OL coach is unknown.

Update: New DC Patrick Graham is Getting the AHC Title

As we wondered yesterday, Patrick Graham is getting the Assistant Head Coach title to go along with his Defensive Coordinator tag. Thus it was a straightforward promotion and not some disappointment  on the part of Flores that let this happen.  It also sets it up so that Judge doesn't have to offer the AHC title to any former head coach they add as OC, if that's the plan, or to anyone else. This works.

Giants Hire Jerry Schupinski as QB Coach

Joe Judge has hired another ex-Pat colleague. This time it is Jerry Schupinski.  Schupinski, like Graham was just on the Dolphins, but before that spent time on the Pats staff with Judge. Jerry has actually coached both sides if the ball as well as specials for the Pats. Including 3 years as assistant QB Coach, where he helped maintain Brady and groomed Garoppolo. This year he was an assistant QB coach for the Dolphins and, so the Giants gave him a promotion - unlike Graham who seems to have moved laterally.

What's especially interesting about these two hires is that last week, Judge was asked about hiring Freddie Kitchens, and he said Freddie was his friend and he's not hiring friends. Well either these guys are former colleagues but not friends, or he likes the way Grahm and Schupinsky coach but not the way Kitchens does.  To wit, one of the main blasts about Kitchens in Cleveland is that he was instransigent and wasn't versatile enough to match his schemes to his players.

So there we are.  It seems a little unusual that they are hiring the QB coach ahead of the OC.  And coaches identity is now the greatest mystery.

NFL Network: Giants Hiring Patrick Graham as DC

The NFL Network, who would know, is reporting that the Giants are hiring former Giants DL Coach Patrick Graham as their new Defensive Coordinator.  Now it looks like a lateral move for Patrick, and those don't often happen.  But it's possible that Judge and Flores and Graham just worked something out among colleagues or perhaps the Giants are giving Graham an AHC gig, too.  Weird move, but Graham is a good coach, and did a great job coaching the last great DL the Giants had in 2016. As you recall, Graham came out of Yale and has coached all over the field during his coaching career.  He is now 40 and has coached under Belichick and Spags, so he knows a few ways to get it done and does favor amoebic versatility on offense and defense.  He's a smart guy, and good start for Judge.

While this staff search is going on I was going to write something about the primacy of putting a great staff together if you want to be a great coach.  Perkins actually got it started in 1979 for the Giants then Parcells built of that, so by 1990 he had one of the greatest coaching staffs ever assembled. Then it started to fall apart, first as Parcells, Belichick and Tom Coughlin left.  But both Belchick and Coughlin had learned the lesson and started assembling great staffs wherever they'd roam.  When Parcells, Belichick and Coughlin were all in the league together, they had to expand the tree that they really share.  Belichick got Saban, TC got Petrino and others.

Anyway, putting together a great staff is the mark of a great Giants coach, and perhaps the mark of all  great coaches, so it will be interesting to see how Judge puts his together and who he adds.

This Week on the Blog

Alright,  the Yanks finally acknowledged Gardy, the Giants introduced their latest coach, the Rangers took two steps forward and one step back, and the Knicks lost their momentum.  Let's take a look at what could be coming up.

Yankees:  The Yankees released Stephen Tarpley to re-add Brett Gardner to their 40 man roster.  This seems suboptimal, and given the long interval between Gardy agreeing and being acknowledge, it looks, again, like the Yanks were looking for a trade but couldn't match values with other teams. Still, it does still seem like they might make a deal or two as the market progresses. They have some duplicative players and there are exciting prospects moving up the ladder who should not be held back for "extra" guys.  The Yanks also avoided arbitration with Judge, Sanchez and all of the others.

Giants: The Giants introduced Joe Judge on Thursday, and he sounded just like a 38 year old Tom Coughlin. The values he espoused echoed the Parcells/Coughlin values - which are the only ones the Giants have ever won with.  Now he has to hire coordinators and assistants.  Apparently Thomas McGaughey will stay on as Special Teams coordinator, and Tyke Tolbert with also stay as WR Coach.  This weekend they have also asked the Dolphins for permission to interview Patrick Graham to be their Defensive Coordinator.  According to Paul Schwartz, they are also considering Aaron Glenn, the old Jet who has lately worked for the Saints.  Neither of these candidates have been NFL DC's before, but both have connections to Bill Belichick, Graham as a coach and Glenn as a player.  We'll see if the list expands or if they're content with breaking in a new Coordinator along with a new Head Coach.  

There was a thought that the Judge would hire an older Coordinator with some HC experience on his resume, but that now looks like it will have to happen on Offense, where we have no clues beyod Tyke Tolbert.  That said, the Giants did catch a break when the Brown hired Stefanski instead of McDaniels, who might have been competing with Judge over their former Patriot colleagues.  

Rangers: Igor Shesterkin finally made his Ranger debut this week and went 2-0. Then Hank came back last night and looked 38 as the Rangers got destroyed by the Blues. It looked like they'd run into the varsity, and Hank was no help.  Things seem to be coming to a head with the goalie situation and it's sort of a bad time, since Georgiev has been slumping. Still, they better get better value than they did at the draft a few years ago when they traded Cam Talbot for a second instead of a first.

Knicks: The Knicks are getting blown out again, but they were short Morris and others while it was happening. Let's see how they look when he gets back. The Knicks say they don't want to trade Morris, but that is borderline insanity.  Let's see what happens.

So there we are.  The Yanks could still make a trade or two, Judge needs to assemble a staff, the Rangers need to play Shesty, and the Knicks need to be open to trades.  Have a great one.

Giants Make Judge Official

Minutes ago, the Giants finally acknowledged that Joe Judge was their new coach.  That he was their man became apparent to Mara, Gettleman and Abrams Monday Night.  Yesterday, Judge travelled to Providence, Rhode Island to meet with Giant Co-Owner, Steve Tisch. Tisch hasn't spoken yet, but Mara intimated that Judge was the most impressive coach he'd ever interviewed, and the Giants seem mightily impressed but this son of Saban and Belichick. For his part, Judge said it's all about winning and that starts now.There should a fairly awesome presser tomorrow afternoon.

Let's hope, tomorrow, he has some staff to announce, and now that the Giants have made this official, some names should start seeping out. This hiring a bit of a departure from their "hot coordinator of the month club" hirings, that in the past brought them Fassel. McAdoo and Shurmur.  It's also a break from their tired re-tread Dan Reeves default mode. Though, both of those tired tracks were available in this latest candidate cluster, the Giants picked the youngest and freshest.  Rhule would have also been exciting and someone they probably would have liked to have met with, but once Judge jumped the line, the Giants saw no reason to match without meeting and Rhule wanted no part of a competition when he'd already gotten an insane deal.

The next few days should be fun!

Giants Hire Joe Judge

Wow.  I was going to wait till I finished my coffee to write about Giant Coaching Hell, but suddenly they have their new coach. Talked about Judge in the last update, but he is a really interesting guy.  First he worked for Saban, then he worked for Belichick, and he doesn't have the baggage that McDaniels now carries wherever he goes.  This is a no BS football coach. He was orignally coaching specials for the Pats, then also started coaching WR's.  The story now is that Matt Rhule offered the Giants a chance to match his Pats deal, but the Giants declined and hired Judge, which, for all we know as their plan as his meeting with them went on yesterday. Of course, let's see what kind of staff he can put together, and what kind of leader he is.

Rangers Recall Igor Shesterkin

After their disappointing trip through Canada, the Rangers have recalled Igor Shesterkin.  Shesterkin has been crushing the AHL, and looks more than ready. Georgiev has been less impressive lately, and Hank is both ill and aging. This could be the long term fix.

Giants Coach Hunt Continues

Alright, after the Pats lost yesterday, Joe Judge and Josh McDaniels became available for earlier interviews.  The Judge interview is Monday, and no McDaniels update is yet available.  Judge is an interesting guy, because he like McDaniels has coached for both Saban and Belichick.  Those are possibly the two best football coaches on earth, and thus a great resume as is.  And he doesn't have the character baggage McDaniels now carries. He reportedly wants the Mississippi State job, so he might not really be available.  We'll see.

Matt Rhule will  meet with the Giants on Tuesday. The search could end there. His mentors include Coughlin, Parcells and Vermiel. And they are three more Hall of Fame type coaches. He's a local guy, like Tuna and TC were, and he's a leader who has already shown he can turn things around in a hurry.  Seems like a perfect fit.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, it was an up and down week.  Yanks discovered the extent of German's suspension, the Giants started their third coaching search in four years. the Rangers were up and down, and the Knicks were mostly up, then down. So let's see what's coming up.

Yankees: Seems like the Yanks should have made a trade by now. They still haven't announced Gardy, and that must mean they they expect one, too.  Remember, back in the oughts when the Yanks would hold off announcements until the commish got on them?  We'll see what happens here.  They've promoted their trainer to emeritus status and extended the trainer gig as art of their new fitness crew.  Let's hope that helps.  Still waiting on a trade or two.

Giants: The Giants began their coach hunt this week and have already interviewed Kris Richard, Mike McCarthy, Eric Bieniemy and are now interviewing Wink Martindale. They are reportedly meeting with Matt Ruhle on Tuesday, and if they don't hire him or someone by then, they'll meet with the two Patriot coaches Friday or next Saturday. Let's hope this ends Tuesday. I have fan fatigue.  Though it would also be intriguing if they hired Martindale today.

In other news they have extended Grant Haley for another year.  Not sure if that's for Saquon or whether they believe he still has upside under a new staff. They also signed their exclusive rights guys, like Chris Slade. So, business as usual - and frankly these coach hunts have become business as usual.

Rangers: the other night, the Rangers lost a game they probably should have won.  Kaapo Kakko had already had a goal and an assist when Quinn benched him for taking a penalty.  It was a penalty of aggression and not laziness, and the benching seemed way out of line - especially in a one goal game that they never tied.  Quinn himself had drawn a bench minor that lead to a goal in the previous game. Not sure what's going on, but this was not a good look for Quinn.  I thought he was the guy, but maybe he's not.

Knicks: the Knicks are now 6-7 under Mike Mitchell.  They should be 7-6, but they blew last night's game in the 4th period when they couldn't get needed stops. Still, the arrow is up and Mitchell Robinson is really breaking out.  How did Mitchell cure his fouling issue so quickly?  Why couldn't Fiz?

So there we are, Yanks still on hold, Giants could hire a coach, Rangers could start looking, and the Knicks look like they might have found one. I hope you find whatever you are looking for.

More Giants

Happy New Year, everyone.  The Giants' biannual search for a new coach is starting to take shape.   So far it looks like this:

Thursday: Kris Richard. Richard is a Pete Carroll disciple, rose to DC then got fired by Seattle and hired by the Cowboys. He's been in charge of pass defense there - so even if the Giants aren't blown away, he perhaps can teach them something about defending the pass. That was often a problem during 4-12.

Friday: Mike McCarthy: Ugh. Let me point something out. The farthest the Giants have ever gone with a West Coast O coach, was Super Bowl Loser. And that was Jim Fassel.  The Giants haven't won even a playoff game with a WCO coach, so screw this idea.  Also, he was getting a lot of bad press on his way out of Green Bay.  Hard Pass.

Saturday: Don "Wink" Martindale: He's the DC for the very physical Baltimore Ravens. We'd have to see how this goes.  He obviously knows a ton about D, and we have to wonder if he would indeed bring LSU OC Joe Brady.  That could be interesting.

Sunday: Eric Bieneimy: He's not the play caller in KC, and we had that situation with McAdoo.  They run a great variant on the WCO, but it would depend on the play caller he could bring in, as well as a major DC.

Matt Rhule, Josh McDaniels and Joe Judge aren't available to interview yet.  Rhule sitll looks like the best bet.