NY Giants offseason tracker: Why Jerome Henderson's DC candidacy should not be dismissed

If the Giants want to spend the next four months playing out who won between Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale, they've already lost. They've got plenty of more productive things to figure out.

Daboll does not appear too concerned with trying to make his case, regardless of how this has played out publicly. He knows what happened with Wink and the Wilkins brothers, Drew and Kevin, and Thomas McGaughey, too.

All that went down in the 6-11 campaign can't happen again if Daboll wants to evolve as a head coach and get this team back to being what they were in his first season on the road to the playoffs.

The challenge for the Giants is figuring out how they got here, and finding a way to move forward.

In simple terms, talking about a complicated situation, that's where Daboll and the Giants are.

Be honest about what went wrong, change what you can and get better.

This is a pivotal offseason as Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen move their plans ahead in fixing what needs fixing in advance of their third season together as the brain trust in charge of turning this franchise into a consistent winner and playoff contender again.

Carmen Bricillo has already been hired as the new offensive line coach, replacing Bobby Johnson, who was fired after two years. And Joel Thomas, following a successful tenure with the New Orleans Saints, is the new running backs coach. He replaces Jeff Nixon, who left to become the offensive coordinator at Syracuse.

UPDATED: The Giants have hired Michael Ghobrial as their special teams coordinator. He comes over from the Jets.

Here's a look at the latest happenings for Big Blue, and we will keep you updated over the next few months with news and analysis of what's to come:

Don't discount Jerome Henderson's DC candidacy

Been asked a lot over the past couple days why the Giants have not hired Jerome Henderson as defensive coordinator if he was their choice.

My answer: they didn't have to rush things. Henderson is under contract and by all accounts is a grinder who has been involved. The defensive staff is hardly bare.

They could afford to let the process play out and see what developed. Plus, there are rules to follow in terms of outside interviews.

If Henderson gets hired, don't let the timeline distort his candidacy.

I would name Henderson DC, give defensive line guru Andre Patterson a run game coordinator title, give Bryan Cox a bump as assistant DL coach/pass rush coach, put Mike Adams with DBs to assist Mike Treier, who gets promotion to position coach. Keep John Egorugwu at ILB. Hire an OLB coach and move forward.

Is Ravens' Dennard Wilson the favorite for DC job?

The Giants interviewed Ravens secondary coach Dennard Wilson for a second time Saturday, setting off alarms on social media that he is the leader right now to replace Wink Martindale as defensive coordinator.

UPDATE: Wilson is joining the Titans to be their defensive coordinator.

There is important context to add that may be the reason for the timing.

Wilson is an impressive candidate, given his success with the Jets and Titans previously and during the 2022 season with the Eagles, with his influence receiving rave reviews from the players he coached in Philly.

So, with the Ravens and Chiefs still alive in the playoffs, readying for Sunday's AFC title game, here's an interesting wrinkle to the Giants' DC search because of the new rules.

Since the Ravens had the first round bye, the Giants were allowed to interview Wilson virtually before the wild card round. They could not interview Kansas City LB coach Brendan Daly for the first time until Saturday because the Chiefs played in the wild card round.

Daly, who worked with Daboll in New England and has now spent significant time with Steve Spagnuolo in KC, is the only candidate now known who was off limits until Saturday because his team was still in the hunt.

The point here is that the timeline for the candidates is not always what it seems because of the way the new rules force teams to operate. The Giants were fortunate that Wilson's team had a bye, so they were ahead of the game on that front. Daly seems like a late add, but he was likely a target the entire time.

Bobby Babich of the Bills, in-house candidate Jerome Henderson, Anthony Campanile of the Dolphins and Derrick Ansley, formerly of the Chargers, have all received interviews. It's unclear if any will get a second look. Campanile could be in the mix to replace Vic Fangio in Miami, but he also could link up with Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers if things shake a different way on Mike McDaniel's staff. The Giants are not the only team to express interest in Babich.

Brandon Brown's pursuit of GM jobs heating up

Brandon Brown, the Giants' assistant general manager, met with the Chargers in person Wednesday for his second interview. He has been mentioned as a strong possibility to land there if Jim Harbaugh gets the Chargers' head coaching job. And that part actually happened early Wednesday night when the Chargers and Harbaugh came to an agreement for him to leave behind national champion Michigan and return to the NFL.

Brown also made the second round of interviews for the GM job in Carolina that went to Dan Morgan earlier this week. NFL Network reported that Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz would be interviewing with the Chargers for a second time on Thursday. Hortiz has been a mainstay in a successful front office in Baltimore with GM Eric DeCosta, and has the obvious connection with Ravens coach John Harbaugh, Jim's brother.

UPDATE: Joe Hortiz, formerly with the Ravens, was hired by the Chargers as their GM.

If the Giants lose Brown, a trusted asset in the front office since Joe Schoen's arrival, they would receive two third-round compensatory draft picks - one each for the next two years - as part of the league's incentive program to help develop and promote minority coaches to coordinator positions or team executives.

The Giants hired former Titans executive Ryan Cowden this past year as the executive advisor to the GM. He could, in theory, get promoted to the assistant GM spot if Brown departs. Schoen and Cowden are close from their days together with the Panthers, and Cowden was a candidate for the Giants' GM job two years ago that went to Schoen.

An interesting wrinkle if Brown gets the Chargers' gig: the Giants are currently slated to select No. 6 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, one spot behind - yup, you guessed it - the Chargers. Brown and Schoen have likely shared intel on the road to the draft in terms of evaluation and the Giants' approach.

A new name emerges as DC candidate

Daboll and Schoen may be looking to tap into a familiar place for another candidate for defensive coordinator: Bills linebackers coach Bobby Babich. He comes with plenty of praise for observers of the Buffalo defense in recent seasons, and Giants brass knows the 40-year-old well. Daboll was on staff with Babich for four years, as the latter initially coached the Bills on the back end before replacing his father as linebackers coach.

I wondered on social media if the Giants waited to request an interview with Babich until after the Bills lost in the playoffs Sunday out of respect for the friends Schoen and Daboll still have in Buffalo. If they knew the process was going to last beyond the weekend, wait and let them focus on the playoffs.

Defensive coordinator: Where things stand

The Giants are keeping their cards close to the vest on this one. Publicly, at least on social media, Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson appears to be the favored name in this search. He's also the only known candidate whose team is still alive in the playoffs with the Ravens set to host the Chiefs in the AFC Championship next Sunday.

Other interviewed candidates include North Jersey's Anthony Campanile, the Dolphins' linebackers coach; interim Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley; Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen; and Jerome Henderson, the Giants' defensive backs coach who has had a strong run here spanning two regimes.

If the Giants want Wilson, they'll have to wait. That gives them opportunity to let their search breath and consider other options. Felt all along like there might be another candidate or two on the docket.

As the coaching carousel spins ...

The Giants will be well-represented on the coaching staffs at the Senior Bowl later this month. Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney will serve as offensive coordinator for the National team at the Senior Bowl. Mike Adams, who served as Giants' assistant special teams coach last season, will be the special teams coordinator of the American team.

And Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will be one of two head coaches at the East-West Shrine Game.

What's interesting for the Giants will be how this offseason plays out for Kafka, who is interviewing for head coaching jobs with the Titans and the Seahawks. NFL Network reported Sunday that a second interview with Seattle is on tap for Kafka, the only offensive-minded coach included in a list of five candidates rounded out by Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, Rams DC Raheem Morris and Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, who was considered the favorite when Pete Carroll moved upstairs.

The question will become whether Kafka seeks a lateral move to another team as its offensive coordinator and leave the Giants. There is some thought that Daboll might take over the play calling of the offense, mostly through speculation because of how the Giants struggled offensively for much of last season. If that were to happen, Kafka might want the chance to remain a play caller. We'll see.

Then there is the possible succession plan with Tierney, who interviewed for the OC job with Tampa Bay last year. He's done a great job as quarterbacks coach for two years. You'd expect him to get the next shot. There's one other thing to consider: Ken Dorsey, who was the quarterbacks coach in Buffalo with Daboll as OC (and Tierney as assistant QB coach), is available after he was fired by the Bills as OC.

Could Dorsey find his way to East Rutherford to rejoin Daboll and Tierney in some capacity? That does make some sense.

Special teams coordinator: Where things stand

Larry Izzo certainly has personality, and he will go down as one of the most productive special teams players in NFL history. He's also done well for himself in the coaching ranks.

Izzo interviewed for the Giants' vacant special teams coordinator job on Saturday, according to ESPN. He would seem to be the candidate with the strongest resume, and if he were to come to East Rutherford, he would return to the Giants after serving as an assistant during the latter part of Tom Coughlin's tenure.

Other candidates interviewed include Matt Harper, assistant special teams coach of the 49ers; Carlos Polk, assistant special teams coach of the Bears; and Jets assistant special teams coach Michael Ghobrial.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Giants offseason tracker: Stay up to date with everything Big Blue