Does anybody want to run the Giants defense?
It sure seems as if filling the position of defensive coordinator is becoming more difficult than it should be. Not long after word circulated that the Giants spoke with and expressed interest in Jim Haslett, the former Saints and Rams coach was scratched from the list.
Instead of meeting with Tom Coughlin, Haslett last night agreed to go to run the Redskins defense for newly-hired Mike Shanahan.
The Skins pounced on Haslett after their first pick for the job, Mike Zimmer, decided to stay in Cincinnati.
The Giants are close to having to go to their “B” list of candidates. Coughlin this past Monday spoke with Romeo Crennel, but Crennel’s agent, Joe Linta, said in an email message that Crennel “put everyone on hold . . . looking at KC first.”
Crennel’s first choice is to go to Kansas City, where he would be reunited with two former Patriot colleagues, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and general manager Scott Pioli. Unless financial terms can’t be ironed out with the Chiefs, scratch Crennel off the Giants’ list as well.
After interviewing last Thursday with Coughlin and this past Monday with Lovie Smith in Chicago, Perry Fewell still hasn’t come to a decision as to which job he wants to pursue.
Fewell served as the interim head coach in Buffalo after Dick Jauron was fired in November and went 3-4 in his seven-game stint. Fewell, Coughlin’s defensive backs coach in Jacksonville, was interviewed for the still-vacant head coaching position in Buffalo and may want to wait until that spot is filled before accepting a coordinator role.
If Fewell isn’t the man for the job, Coughlin may have to go with an unproven candidate such as Kirk Olivadotti, the Redskins linebackers coach (and son of former Dolphins defensive coordinator and Giants assistant Tom Olivadotti), or former Giants linebacker Pepper Johnson, who has worked on Bill Belichick’s staff for 10 years in New England.
Neither Olivadotti nor Johnson has ever been a coordinator.
Coughlin also could reach out for Jauron, his former coordinator in Jacksonville, but that appears to be a fallback option.
If the Giants want to reach out to Jets linebackers coach Bob Sutton they have a one-week window to do so, or they must wait until the Jets are eliminated. A Jets source yesterday said the Giants have not made any inquiries about Sutton.
Meanwhile, fired defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan wasn’t out of work long. He signed yesterday to become the linebackers coach for the Dolphins. Sheridan had been the Giants linebackers coach for four years before his ill-fated promotion.