Giants retain Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator; no coaching changes in 2017
New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo oversaw his unit’s transformation from all-time bad to one of the best in the NFL. Because of this, the team announced Wednesday the re-signing of Spagnuolo.
Spagnuolo’s contract expired after the Super Bowl but his re-signing comes as no surprise. He wanted to remain with the Giants as much the Giants wished to retain his services.
He returned to the Giants for a second tour of duty before the 2015 season, replacing Perry Fewell. Spagnuolo’s first year didn’t go as expected.
The Giants began 2015 as the first team in NFL history to go 0-2 while holding double digit leads in the fourth quarter of each game. This haunted the Giants all season, as they lost six games in which they tied or held the lead in the final two minutes.
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The Giants defense surrendered 6,725 yards in 2015. Only the 1981 Baltimore Colts and 2012 New Orleans Saints gave up more yards in NFL history.
In 2016, it was a completely different story.
The Giants defense ranked 10th overall. They allowed the second-fewest points in the league behind the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. After a 2-3 start, the Giants won nine of their final 11 games propelled primarily by the defense. This was, in part, due to bringing in an influx of talent last offseason.
“He’s a guy that didn’t panic when things were going wrong and was never overly excited when they were great,” All-Pro defensive tackle Damon Harrison said. Harrison was one of the free agents brought last offseason who excelled in the Giants’ defense. “He has this calm about him and assurance that everything would work out for the better defensively, and it rubbed off on everybody in our room. Great coach!”
Spagnuolo enters his seventh season as a defensive coordinator, his third in two tours of duty with the Giants. In 2007, he helped the Giants to a victory in Super Bowl XLII over the previously undefeated Patriots.
The Giants, who won 11 games and made the playoffs for the first time in five years, are not expected to make any changes to the coaching staff. This means head coach Ben McAdoo will retain an offensive staff that only averaged 19.4 points a game in 2016 after averaging more than 26 points a game in 2015.
Offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride, quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti, running backs coach Craig Johnson, wide receivers coach Adam Henry, offensive line coach Mike Solari, assistant line coach Lunda Wells and offensive assistant Ryan Roeder will return for 2017. Special teams coach Tom Quinn and Spagnuolo’s defensive assistants will also be back.
McAdoo, who enters his second season as head coach, said no changes to the coaching staff were imminent after the Giants 38-13 Wild Card loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“No, it’s way too early for that, but I don’t anticipate anything,” McAdoo said at the time. “But never say never.”
NFL teams have been shuffling the deck when it comes to coaches and coordinators since the end of the regular season. Even the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons are not immune to this as they will have new offensive and defensive coordinators in 2017 after a Super Bowl run.
The Giants are moving in the right direction. Perhaps continuity in the coaching staff will continue that forward progress.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for cover32 and covers the NFL and New York Giants, like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @TheArmchrAnlyst.
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