Restoring the New York Giants Pride
by Spiro Kasabian @slickfella_spi
Back in January of 2004, Tom Coughlin was hired to be 17th coach in New York Giant’s history. Coughlin inherited a 4-12 team and the Giants, as an organization, were in disarray. In Coughlin’s first press conference, he spoke about the need to “restore Giant’s Pride”. Boy, did he ever accomplish that goal. 2 Super Bowl victories, 3 NFC East Division crowns, and 102 wins later, Giant’s Pride was officially restored.
Fast forward to January 2018. The Giants organization is again in disarray after the firing of its shortest tenured coach in team history. The team and organization are in desperate need of a leader that will grab the bull by the horns and turn this franchise back into a perennial contender. Someone that can do what Tom Coughlin did 14 years ago…….Restore Giants Pride.
Let’s take a look at the two Primary Candidates:
If you are in the defensive-minded crowd, this looks to be your guy. He hails from the Ron Rivera coaching tree and has been the Assistant Head Coach for the past two years with the Carolina Panthers. Once Sean McDermott left to become the Bills head coach, Wilks took over as the Defensive Coordinator.
In his first season as the D. Coordinator, the Panthers defense finished 7th in total yards against and 11th in points against. With the talent that is already here and a high draft pick, Wilks will be counted on to turn the Giants defense back into a force to be reckoned with. He is rumored to like Norv Turner or John DeFilippo as his Offensive Coordinators, which bodes well for that side of the ball. The biggest argument to be made for Wilks is that he appears to be a leader of men. This is something that Ben McAdoo was not. He is well-respected in the Panthers locker room, as well as around the league. He has also worked with Dave Gettleman in the past, so there is some familiarity with the GM whom he will be making big decisions with.
Wilks seems to be the type of coach that will hold players accountable, which will be very important in changing the culture of this organization. It has gotten to the point where the inmates were running the asylum, and Wilks has the personality and presence that will put an end to all the shenanigans that have plagued this organization for the past 3 years.
For the offensive-minded crowd, I present to you, Josh McDaniels. As you all know already, McDaniels comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. He has been the Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach for the Patriots for the better part of the past 14 years. During his tenure, the Patriots have been the No. 1 ranked offense 3 times (2007, 2012, and 2017). Sandwiched in between his 2 tenures with the Patriots was a two year stretch as the Head Coach of Denver Broncos.
As a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 32-year-old, McDaniels proved to be a little too green for the Broncos head job a few years ago. Long story short, he tried to be Belichick instead of trying to be himself. In the 9 years since, McDaniels has mentioned countless times how he has learned from that experience and has a check list of all the things he can/will do better the next time around.
As a QB Coach and highly successful Offensive Coordinator under, who many believe, is the best coach of all-time, McDaniels seems like the right fit to get this offense back on track. He has also proven that he can groom a young quarterback (Jimmy Garrapolo), which is a big factor if the Giants want to choose a Quarterback with their #2 overall pick. McDaniels also seems to be able to adapt his offensive system to his players, which is a huge upgrade over the rigid McAdoo who wanted to make his players fit his system only and refused to make any sort of adjustments to fit his players strengths.
Both have already interviewed for the position. It is my assumption that the New York Giants will be naming their 20th coach in team history in the next week or so. Both candidates appear to be solid options. Here’s to hoping that whichever candidate is chosen will be here for a very long and successful tenure and restores that Giant Pride.