The New York Giants were left at the altar by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on Friday when he jumped ship to assume the same role with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Graham has a relationship with both newly hired head coaches — Josh McDaniels of the Raiders and Brian Daboll of the Giants — from their days in New England as part of Bill Belichick’s staff.
Graham was serving as the assistant head coach here with the Giants under Joe Judge as well as the DC but may not have been offered that title here under Daboll. It is unclear yet if the Raiders have given Graham that title.
The Giants were busy trying to replace Graham with a flurry of interviews on Saturday with some established coordinators around the NFL.
Busy day on the DC front with Giants: Jim Schwartz, Teryl Austin, Wink Martindale and Sean Desai all with interviews so far, would think Jerome Henderson will get an interview as well.
We'll see if anything else materializes and what the next step will be for Brian Daboll. https://t.co/etSy5M7T8w
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) February 5, 2022
Schwartz has been a defensive coordinator or head coach for various clubs since 2001.
He was the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator from 2001-08, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2016-20, where he earned a Super Bowl ring.
Schwartz has also been the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2014), and served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2009-13.
Martindale has been coaching NFL defenses since 2004 and has served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens for the past four seasons. He also has a Super Bowl ring to his credit.
Austin also has a long, distinguished resume that includes both college and NFL experience. Austin has been a defensive coordinator since 2014 with the Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. Austin earned a Super Bowl ring as part of the Ravens’ staff in SB XLVII.
Desai has only one year of coordinator experience — last season with the Chicago Bears. He would appear to be the long shot among the group.
Henderson is currently the Giants’ defensive backs coach but has served as the defensive passing game coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and has coached defensive backs for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets going back to 2007.
