Giants end interview process
NOW for the waiting game.
The Giants finished interviewing their head coaching candidates on Wednesday after former Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville met with team president John Mara, GM Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams in East Rutherford.
Barring a play for Bill Belichick or Nick Saban, Studesville is the sixth and final candidate to be interviewed by the Giants for head coach.
Chairman Steve Tisch was not present but will also interview the candidates as part of the selection process. The only candidate he met with was Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Now all that is left is for the Giants to ultimately decide which of the six they hire.
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has emerged as the favorite to win the job. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had been the previous frontrunner, while Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is also among the Giants’ preferred candidates.
Patricia, Daniels and Shurmur are all still coaching teams that are in the playoffs and would not be able to agree to a contract until their respective teams are eliminated, though it is not uncommon for a team to unofficially secure a coach while he remains in the playoffs. Should the Vikings or Patriots reach the Super Bowl, the Giants can meet with those coaches again no later than Jan. 28.
Studesville, 50, is considered a longshot for the Giants job as he has no experience as a coordinator and his only head coaching experience came in 2010 as an interim head coach for four games with the Broncos, going 1-3.
He was the Broncos running backs coach since 2010 and was also an assistant head coach last season before he was fired by Denver. Studesville has been a coach in the NFL since 1997 and has ties to the Giants organization, serving as their running backs coach from 2001-03.
The Giants have also interviewed interim head coach and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Wilks is considered a sleeper for the job due to his strong ties with Gettleman, but his lack of experience as a coordinator — just one season — puts him behind the top three.
Spagnuolo went 1-3 as the Giants’ interim head coach following the firing of Ben McAdoo, but he is a well-respected coach within the organization.
PERSONNEL CHANGES: Giants quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti is reportedly heading to the Green Bay Packers to fill the same position, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. … The Giants also signed LB Thurston Armbrister, OL Laurence Gibson and RB Jalen Simmons to futures contracts on Wednesday.