NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

Here I’m collecting information on Steve Spagnuolo, the Giants defensive coordinator and former Philadelpia Eagles defensive backs and linebackers coach. Newsday focuses on Spagnuolo’s aggressiveness. Hopefully that means fewer defensive ends in coverage and more linebackers going after the QB. The Hartford Courant reminds us that Spagnuolo even has some defensive coordinator expereince but at the college level. And the Giants are now looking to add players who play fast regardless of their 40 times.

Mike Garafolo writes about Ike Reese’s praise of Spagnuolo. In PA they focus on Spagnuolo’s emotional goodbye. They make it sound like he cried when saying goodbye to Trotter.

Let’s hope it’s McNabb and Westbrook crying next season.

Phil Mushnick says that Reese needs to restore Giants class because Giants fans find it hard to root for the current Giants:

I don’t claim to speak for all Giants fans, but I do speak for a bunch of them. And this past season, for the first time, they felt they were rooting for something that was against their better judgment, a team that was beneath their dignity.

I don’t even know what it means for a team to be beneath the fan’s dignity. Mushnick seems to be talking about celebrations and temper tantrums but when I felt worst was when the Giants seemed to give up.

Vinny DiTrani isn’t exactly going out on a limb when he calls linebacker the Giants biggest need. We have Pierce in the middle (and maybe DiTrani is going a bit crazy when he talks about moving Pierce to WLB). Short is OK depth. Emmons is not OK depth. Who really knows with Arrington and Wilkinson. It’s not a good situation.

He thinks we’re OK at safety but not at cornerback. I agree with him about the cornerbacks… He also says we’re OK at receiver because Toomer will be back, Moss will be a factor, and Carter is not so bad. I have to disagree here. Carter had a chance this season and didn’t do enough. Moss might be a factor but only an oracle can know for sure since he didn’t show anything on the field. If Toomer picks up where he left off, the world is kinder than I thought it was.

Obviously we need a few years to see how Jerry Reese does, but I do have some concerns about the guy who has been orchestrating the Giants drafts. Some of his guys have worked out nicley like Kiwi and Osi. Others haven’t worked out as well like Manning, William Joseph, and Corey Webster. Hopefully he’ll do an excellent job but I’m not confident that he will.

Anyway, the articles: The Post says this is no surprise and details some Reese history. Newsday has a weak outline of some of Reese’s (and the Giants) issues. The New York Times mentions similar things.

The Giants are looking for a new defensive coordinator. Most of the defensive position coaches will be replaced by the new defensive coordinator. One name that comes up often for the job is Dom Capers.

Many Giants fans wanted Coughlin gone, but the Giants will keep him next year. The owners say they talked to him and agreed with his plan to improve the Giants next season. Mike Vaccaro says that adding just one year to Coughlin’s contract is a mistake because it shows the Giants are on the fence. I suppose they are right, but since most fans probably wanted to get rid of Coughlin I don’t think the owners could have made a bigger commitment. Yet Steve Serby agrees with Vaccaro, arguing that Ccoughlin should have been fired and that the one year extension means players will be complaining to get rid of a coach they don’t like.

Steve Silverman says our wishes will come true next year when Coughlin is fired and Bill Cowher is made Giants coach. I can live with that considering that there aren’t any head coaching options right now that seem better than Coughlin.