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but we can't let the day go by without having an official list of possibilities for the defensive coordinator's job. I know we've talked about some of these names as parts of other entries, but we'll throw them all here now. Believe it or not, I'm sure there are other names on Tom Coughlin's short-list, but darned if he's called to share them with me.
So here we go.
DICK JAURON: The most obvious one for several reasons. First, Coughlin knows him from his Jacksonville days, which is a big plus. The guy wasn't a very good head coach, but he knows defense. And now that he's no longer occupied in downtrodden Buffalo, he might just make himself available to his former boss to straighten out this mess of a defense.
DOM CAPERS: The father of the zone blitz (just what some of you guys need, right?) is busy coaching the Green Bay defense in the playoffs right now. But he'd be worth an interview. Remember, those assistants under contract have to be offered a higher position, like assistant head coach, in order to jump. Capers also worked with Coughlin.
BOB SUTTON: The National Football Post website said Coughlin is targeting this ex-Army head coach and current Jets linebackers coach. The military background is right up Coughlin's alley. But this is a guy who got zilch out of a first-round pick in Vernon Gholston. Well, everybody has his failures. He did do well with this year's starting LBs, however, as they were a functional part of the league's No. 1 defense. And guess what? Except for that one touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the Atlanta loss, those guys actually knew how to cover a tight end.
JIM HASLETT: I put him as a longshot, actually. He was a gritty linebacker and a fiery head coach himself. But I think he's a bit too flighty for Coughlin. Tends to go off on the sidelines and with the media.
KIRK OLIVADOTTI: This linebackers coach will be out of work soon in Washington, but I'm not sure he's a great fit here. His father, Tom, was once a Giants assistant, but to me the old man's most memorable moment came when a popup bounced off his mouth in the coaches-media softball game and opened a gash. Still, the Redskins had the 10th-best defense in the league, and Olivadotti did handle stud pass rusher Brian Orakpo.
GEORGE EDWARDS: The Dolphins linebackers coach's name has been bandied about. The 42-year-old coordinated the Redskins' defense from 2002-03. Seems like a longshot.
PEPPER JOHNSON: He's coaching the Patriots defensive line right now, but boy, would he be a popular choice among fans. You all should remember him from his Giants career, when he was considered a hard-hitting inside linebacker and a say-it-all interview. Like Haslett, though, not sure his and Coughlin's personalities would jive.
Other names will arise in the coming days, and I'll try to keep up with things the best I can.
EP
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Wayno2424- Unofficial Ombudsman for Ernie Palladino’s Giants Beat
ReplyDeleteThe announcement that Journal News legendary writer Ernie P would be leaving the sinking ship that is Gannett and entering the blogosphere was greeted with excitement and just before the season started the posts came too on Ernie Palladino’s Giants Beat. There were questions whether such a pre-eminent print journalist would be able to tackle blogging for the greatest football team in America. Those concerns while validly raised were quickly dismissed as Ernie Palladino has created the best source for Giants news/analysis anywhere on the internet or world for that matter.
Ernie is often first to break a story and post it on the blog (in all fairness maybe not break it). Whether it is inactives, injuries or personnel changes Ernie is right on top of it. If he isn’t on top of it, he will research and find out about it. Ernie has given the Giants community the LOHUD Yanks Blog of Giants football and far surpassed others who have been blogging for much longer, including the great Ed Valentine.
That being said there is always room for improvement and in order to get the web views up Ernie will need to address certain issues. First, the template needs changing. The dark and light brown have nothing to do with Giants football and needs to be changed to more suitable colors. Second, the comments section on the front page needs to be fixed to take out the punctuation marks that often make the quote hard to understand. Third, Ern needs to live blog EVERY game whether it is Thanksgiving Christmas or New Years. He cannot listen to family concerns and if need be hire somebody else. Fourth, more polls and interactive features to bring the community together are needed. And a fifth suggestion should possibly be guest writers and different perspectives from time to time.
Finally, and most importantly, there is one area that NEEDS FIXING THIS OFFSEASON and that is the message board. Too many readers have trouble posting and the threads are cut short. Furthermore, this dissuades people from fully experiencing the site and coming back day after day. If a tech guy needs to be hired to accomplish this, so be it.
LOHUD YANKS BLOG got 25,000,000 hits last year and I am sure Ernie P.’s blog could do similar #’s but complacency and happiness with the status quo cannot be accepted. The community awaits the advertisers flocking to this site and continued greatness well into the future.
What are ur plans Ern??? You better still be blogging
other names:
ReplyDeleteJerry Gray
Perry Fewell
Gregg Blache
You're right, the fan in me would love to give the position to Pepper Johnson. Is he ready to be a DC though? Does he have an idea about what kind of system he would like to run? I hope he gets consideration and can answer these questions correctly for TC. At this point, mostly cause I am not too far removed from the gut wrenching end of the season, I would take anyone who is not Sheridan and has some decent experience. I think Jauron would be the best fit, given the working relationship with TC.
ReplyDeleteThe should sign Dick Jauron immediately before the Redskins do
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that Mike Zimmer might be available as the Bengals won't pay him what he is worth and his contract is up after this year. He would be my first choice.
ReplyDeleteDo we have the personnel to switch to a 3-4? Our weak LBs would make me hesitant but let's look at it.
ReplyDeleteDEs: Osi, Kiwi, Tuck, Tollefson. KNot too bad, perhaps not stron enough and Kiwi could move to OLB in the 3-4 scheme
Nose: Robbins, Cofield, Alford, Canty (OK)
OLBs: Sintim, Kiwi, Kehl, Boley (hopefully not), CLark (hopefully cut)
ILBs:Goff, AP(?), Blackburn (this is a weakness)
It would seem that with this personnel, it could be done, drafting OLB and ILB would be required or pick up someone via FA. The problem is that after the "heartless" finish we showed, who would want to come here and play with these guys?
Didn't Capers insist on switching Green Bay to the 3-4 before taking the Green Bay job? I'm reasonably sure he's been a 3-4 guy most, if not all, of his career. Seems like a bad fit for NY's personnel, given our LB weakness, unless they do a major overhaul. I would hesitate on Jauron as well because he's a pretty emotionless guy (like Sheridan was). Clearly, and sadly, since they are supposed to be PROFESSIONALS, this defense needs a firebrand to get on their a** game after game. Not sure Jauron is up to that particular task. Ernie - any word on Pierce's future in coaching? I think the Giants would be foolish not to bring up the possibility NOW, so the guy can think it through. I really believe it would be in both parties best interest to keep AP on sidelines, but out of uniform.
ReplyDeleteDweez:
ReplyDeleteI think they're going to see whether Pierce's neck heals first. Pierce may not be convinced his playing career is over, and until that happens, he would never consider a coaching career. At any rate, he wouldn't be candidate for the DC job. Maybe as a coaching intern or assistant to the linebackers coach, some entry level thing.
Everyone:
ReplyDeleteI'm not prepared to make any definitive pronouncements on this blog's future. I'll keep you informed. But for now, I'll just say that we're a lot like some of the injuries the Giants sustained this year -- week-to-week. In the words of Tom Coughlin, "We'll see."
Boy Ernie I hope you keep this blog up! It's the best!!! I hope it pays the bills but probably not at this moment! But I really admire your work, coverage and dedication to the Giants!
ReplyDeleteAs for the defensive candidates I'm not sure who will be a good fit and defer to the other commentators above.
I was too young to remember Pepper Johnson but do know he is a loved Giant and Parcells seems to love the guy as well. He sounds like a he would be a fan favorite.
But I want someone qualified and if he is qualified and a fan favorite that's good in my book. At his point anything looks better than the 400+ points we gave up this season.
Ernie - Thanks for the info. No, I didn't mean AP as a coordinator. No question he isn't ready for that. I wasn't clear about that, my bad. As for the future of your blog, you should look into Profootballtalk.com (PFT). Starting as a part time project of a lawyer named Mike Florio, PFT is now is part of NBC Sports. Florio covers the WHOLE NFL, so his site obviously has more appeal to more people, but he started from very humble beginnings, and you're A LOT better writer, so there's no reason this blog couldn't become a tri-state advertising vehicle. Also, there's no reason you couldn't ask for donations from your readers. A Paypal button on the side isn't in bad taste, it's just asking people to be fair. Not everyone will do it, but you might get enough to cover expenses. Bare minimum you should reach out to Mike Florio. The dolt he has writing about the NFC East, Gregg Rosenthal, couldn't pass English 101. I would love to see you succeed, but if you can't make it solo, maybe you could do some work for PFT. You would be HUGE upgrade over what is being written there. Best of luck to you. I do hope the site is around for many, many more years, but I also understand you have to do what is right for you and yours. If this is the final season - Thank you. Wish you had a better season to write about, but you did excellent work and I appreciate having this site as a resource to turn to.
ReplyDeleteErnie
ReplyDeleteyou didn't have Perry Fewell on your list at all, I had to include it in the post above. Even with his ties to TC and the great job he has done in Buffalo. IN fact your candidate list is a cut and paste from Ralph V's page.
Remember the giants must satisfy the Rooney rule and interview minority candidates. If they want Jauron, they still have to interview others. Once the redskins decide what they want to do with Blache and Gray, they should be considered as well. The DC 980SPortstalk said this morning that Shannahan is interested in hiring Mike Zimmer away from the Bengals, so they are going to have to wait, which means Blache may keep his job awhile longer. DC people tell me that he will retire, rather than relocate, this make Jerry Gray the best available candidate from this team.
GOGOLACK