Spags interviews, Schwartz in mix
The Giants began their interviews for head coach on Wednesday with interim head coach and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who met with team president John Mara, GM Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams. He will meet with chairman Steve Tisch later in the week.
Spagnuolo, 58, replaced Ben McAdoo after the Giants fired him with four weeks left in the season and they went 1-3 during that time to finish 3-13 on the season.
The Giants also submitted a request for permission to interview Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for head coach on Wednesday, per ESPN, and the two parties will likely meet this weekend. With the Giants waiting three days to contact Schwartz, it is likely he is not high on their preferred list and the interview could just be an opportunity for Gettleman to pick the brain of a coach of a division rival.
Spagnuolo is considered a long shot to win the job but he is well respected among many within the organization and his ties to the Giants and Gettleman extend far back, including 2007 when he was defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion team that beat the undefeated Patriots.
He clearly favors playing Eli Manning at quarterback, abandoning the Giants’ original plan to work in the other quarterbacks in a lost season.
Spagnuolo’s defense — which finished 31st in yards allowed — also appeared to quit at times during the season, particularly in a 51-17 loss to the Rams at home. An anonymous player also criticized him in the same ESPN report that trashed McAdoo.
Three players on his defense were also suspended by the team during the course of the season with one — Eli Apple — coming while he was interim head coach.
His track record since presiding over that Super Bowl winning defense has not been great, either.
Spagnuolo spent 2009-11 as head coach of the then St. Louis Rams and went 10-38 before being fired and then spent one season with the New Orleans Saints as defensive coordinator, in which the defense ranked last in yards and 31st in points allowed.
He was rehired by the Giants in 2015 and was interviewed for the head coaching job in 2016 before the organization decided to go with McAdoo.
He appeared to have rekindled some of that old Super Bowl magic in 2016 with a defense that allowed the second fewest points in the league, but it all came crumbling back down this past season.
Meanwhile, Schwartz also does not have a great record as a head coach, going 29-51 in five seasons with the Detroit Lions from 2009-2013. The stint included just one winning season which ended in a first round playoff loss.
However, under Schwartz the Eagles defense ranks fourth in the NFL in yards allowed and points per game this season.
The Giants reportedly have an interview with former Broncos running back coach Eric Studesville scheduled for Thursday and one with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is reportedly scheduled for Friday.