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.