John Harbaugh’s first press conference as the head coach of the New York Giants went as well as you could’ve hoped. His words gave fans several reasons to be excited for next season, but also revealed that the Giants are finally looking to start interviews in hopes of assembling their staff.
The offensive coordinator situation is relatively clear, as Todd Monken is likely following him to New York if he doesn’t land a head coaching job, but there are still questions at defensive coordinator.
The 63-year-old Harbaugh is mainly considering his former assistant coaches for the DC position, which may shockingly include Rex Ryan as a candidate.
During an interview with WFAN, Harbaugh was gushing over Ryan, even going so far as to reveal that he may give him a call about the DC job. This could just be an instance of a head coach talking up a longtime assistant and close friend, but this is a lot of praise for a guy he hadn’t worked with in over 15 years.
As if Giants fans don’t remember the disaster that was Ryan’s stint with the New York Jets, he hasn’t coached in the NFL in a decade. The 63-year-old compiled a 61-66 record as a head coach, but helmed some elite defenses alongside Harbaugh in Baltimore; those days were forever ago.
Ryan has spent time as an NFL analyst since being fired by the Buffalo Bills, but he wasn’t successful in either New York or Buffalo after leaving Harbaugh’s side. Giving him a call to be a defensive assistant or a consultant is one thing, but chasing him to be the defensive coordinator is insanity.
If you thought Shane Bowen was bad, replacing him with a coach who hasn’t coached since Obama was in office is definitely the way to get fans on board.
This defense has too much talent to be wasted on unserious coordinator candidates, regardless of how close Harbaugh and Ryan actually may be.
In all honesty, this move is highly unlikely, but it’s still something to take note of. Harbaugh probably knows he’s not gonna hire Ryan as the Giants’ next defensive coordinator, especially not over someone like Dennard Wilson or Anthony Weaver, coaches he has coached with more recently.
The problem with hiring someone like this is the fact that his old-school methods are not as applicable in the modern NFL as they once were. The game very well could have passed him by, so the G-Men should steer clear and pursue a DC candidate with actual modern qualifications.
