The New York Giants announced some additions to their coaching staff on Friday.
Big Blue officially named their coordinators under new head coach Brian Daboll: Mike Kafka (offense), Don “Wink” Martindale (defense) and Thomas McGaughey (special teams).
The team also subsequently announced the hiring of some key assistants:
- Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney
- Running backs coach DeAndre Smith
- Wide receivers coach Mike Groh
- Tight ends coach Andy Bischoff
- Offensive line coach Bobby Johnson
- Asst. offensive line coach Tony Sparano, Jr.
- Defensive line coach Andre Patterson
In addition, the Giants announced that Laura Young has been hired as the team’s director of coaching operations. Young will be involved in “every aspect of football operations, including coordinating/organizing practice, as well as game day operations.”
“(Young will) have her hands all over the organization in terms of the coaching side,” Daboll said. “She’s with me every step of the way. She’s a rock star really, and I feel very fortunate that I get to work with her each day because she provides just a tremendous amount of support and value to really everyone, but myself the most, I would say.
“She’s smart, there’s really not a job she can’t do and a job she won’t do. That’s her mindset. Very humble, egoless, but driven, smart. I just think she’s the best.”
Daboll took a unique approach to assembling his staff. He leveraged several relationships from his time as offensive coordinator in Buffalo, but also hired coaches he had no prior relationship with.
“I think what you try to do when you’re putting together a staff, whether that be an offensive staff in a smaller form or the entire staff, you try to put together a group of people that will complement one another, whether that’s experience, whether that’s energy, whether that’s detail, whether that’s passion,” Daboll said. “You don’t want to have a cookie cutter approach and hire everybody that’s exactly the same. I think that you have to offset blind spots.”
Daboll will continue to add to his staff over the next week or two as the Giants prepare for the NFL combine later this month and free agency which begins in mid-March.
