3 things to know about Giants OL coach candidate
The Giants have an enormous hole to fill at offensive line coach, and the pressure will be on Brian Daboll to nail it. In some ways, this will be the most critical addition this offseason to improving an offense that fell considerably short of expectations en route to the Giants’ 6-11 record in Daboll’s second season.
Bobby Johnson was fired at season’s end after two seasons, including the most recent campaign in which the Giants allowed an NFL-worst 85 sacks. The expectation is that Daboll will run an extensive search, and that will begin with Raiders offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo.
Here are three things to know about the 47-year-old Bricillo and his candidacy:
The background
Bricillo was the offensive line coach in New England under Bill Belichick, selected to pair with Cole Popovich in the wake of legendary coach Dante Scarnecchia’s retirement. Bricillo took over as the sole line coach when Popovich was fired for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
He did an admirable job and followed Josh McDaniels to Las Vegas two years ago. As ownership weighs whether to promote interim head coach Antonio Pierce to the full-time gig in the aftermath of McDaniels’ November firing, Bricillo was granted permission to interview for other prospective jobs.
The challenge: development
Giants general manager Joe Schoen has selected four offensive linemen in his first two drafts, including No. 7 overall Evan Neal, who has not lived up to expectations. The new coach will be tasked with developing talent, especially younger players who have yet to reach their potential on the roster (Neal, Joshua Ezeudu, Marcus McKethan) and a center in John Michael Schmitz who went through an up and down rookie season.
Here’s what Bricillo told reporters in Las Vegas last summer about his approach. that would seem to fall in line with what the Giants want.
“That’s one of my core philosophies — your goal should be constant improvement,” Bricillo said. “I know as a coach I’m always trying to get myself better. You expect that of yourself, especially at our position. The nature of the position is such a developmental one. You never have it. The skill set and the things that are required to do the position well are not natural, so you really have to work at them. The development is never done.”
His journey to the pros
Bricillo was a high school coach in Indiana for two years before embarking on his college coaching career at Duquesne, his alma mater, in 2005. He also worked at Akron and Illinois, setting up his jump to offensive line coach at Youngstown State, where he stayed for nine years.