“What’s going on with the Giants?”
This question was raised early on and often over the past two weeks as crowds of NFL officials converge on two cities as different as the events they host.
The scouting week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama will directly follow the exciting week of the Super Bowl, which will be held in Las Vegas for the first time this year. There was a time when “Vegas” was taboo in NFL circles, but greed is good, gambling is now accepted, and when the money comes in, he says, “Viva, Las Vegas” is hummed in NFL offices. became.
The Senior Bowl is the final step in the weedy scouting process that the best teams excel at, examining the clear top players and unearthing gems and lesser-known prospects for the upcoming NFL Draft. (No players under the radar work will be done during the Senior Bowl, making it impossible for both teams to play in the Super Bowl). The process really begins in earnest at the scouting combine in Indianapolis at the end of February, and at the end of March at this year’s NFL owners conference in Orlando, when trades and trade intrigues begin in earnest.
On mobile, our primary goal was to connect with current coaches and general managers, as well as numerous media members from across the league. In Las Vegas, it evolved into his annual NFL convention, with current players, former players and former coaches trying to get in on the action, making appearances for companies and foundations, attending parties and making radio appearances.・I went around the row. modern Babel.
Casual conflicts often became familiar. After the chat, questions were asked about what happened to the Giants on the field in 2023, what happened to the Giants off the field in the aftermath of that disappointing season, and what the heck the Giants plan to do. It continued. to solve their problems.
The vibe coming out of these conversations: Skepticism is pervasive about whether the Giants are on the right track.
This is all outside speculation and may look even worse from a distance. Sometimes it’s not.
There is little doubt that the way Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale’s story unfolded left a negative impression on those around them.
There are many questions about the Giants’ plan to have Daniel Jones start at quarterback to open the 2024 season as long as his surgically repaired right knee heals. The response to the plan is often spectacular. Initial conversations about the draft are interrupted by the words, “They have to draft a quarterback, right?”
“What exactly happened between Daveth and Wink?” people want to know.
While acknowledging that Martindale showed a lack of professionalism, berated his boss, and then stormed out of the building, the statement continued: “Martindale did not take the NFL defensive coordinator job, but was hired for the role at the University of Michigan. I had a strong feeling that I had been hired by… Outside observers consider this another hit for Daboll. It just looked bad from the outside.
Then, as the search for a new defensive coordinator dragged on, Daboll struggled to fill the role due to insinuations that he was difficult to work with, and there was subsequent speculation that he would be playing his last season with the Giants unless he turned things around. It spread further. His sensational head coaching debut in 2022 took a turn for the worse in 2023. The hiring of Shane Bowen from the Titans was met with a shrug of the shoulders.
This is how it looks and feels to outsiders. Daboll is pleased with the new staff he has assembled after several departures from the 2023 staff for various reasons.
The draft plan continues to take shape. The Giants plan to add a quarterback in free agency who is seen as more than a career backup, and are considering all sorts of scenarios to add a quarterback in the draft. At this point, I feel more of a sense of urgency than despair. The Giants understand Jones has medical concerns due to two neck injuries and now a torn ACL, so they now have to consider it a risk for him to miss out. I understand that.
This time last year, the Giants were seen as on the rise after the Chiefs defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl II in Glendale, Arizona, but they were still atop the NFC East ahead of the Eagles and Cowboys. There was no power to replace it. Daboll traveled to Arizona during Super Bowl week to accept the NFL Coach of the Year award. A year later, Daboll didn’t have to set foot in Las Vegas before the Chiefs defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl III. He returned to New Jersey to put the finishing touches on an overhaul of his coaching staff as many around the league questioned what was going on with the Giants.
Why not spag?
The “In Spags We Trust” t-shirts worn by several Chiefs defensemen after defeating the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game were valued after Spagnuolo orchestrated another surprisingly good defensive game plan in Super Bowl LVIII. rose.
As an example of how good Spagnuolo was in the game, he called for a perfectly timed fake blitz, sending cornerback Trent McDuffie on a third-and-5 late in the fourth quarter. McDuffie deflected a Brock Purdy pass intended for Jauan Jennings, and the 49ers made a field goal to take a 19-16 lead with 1:53 left in regulation.
The stop allowed the Chiefs to show off more of Patrick Mahomes’ magic, forcing overtime with a field goal of their own, holding the 49ers to another field goal to start overtime before finally making it 25-22. won.
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill won the Super Bowl with the Chiefs. I asked his X account a question. Shortly after the game, all the head coaching jobs in the NFL were open, so why wasn’t Spagnuolo’s name mentioned?
That’s a valid question.
This offseason’s recruiting cycle has concluded, and contrary to recent trends, five of the eight job openings went to candidates with defensive backgrounds (Dan Quinn of the Commanders, Raheem of the Falcons). Morris, Patriots’ Jerod Mayo, Raiders’ Antonio Pierce and Seahawks’ Mike McDonald). Spagnuolo never got an interview.
He was a man who accomplished something unprecedented, becoming the first coordinator in NFL history to win four Super Bowls. He won his first championship with the Giants after the 2007 season and now has three championships with the Chiefs.
Despite his overwhelming success, Spagnuolo, 64, was not on the list of hot candidates. He said last week in Las Vegas that he “would love to take another chance” to be a head coach. And he, he loved being on the whole team. But it’s okay to keep going to the Super Bowl. It’s hard to get a manager’s job when you keep playing this late in the playoffs. ”
That’s a fact, and the NFL probably needs to do something about it. Assistant coaches and coordinators on Super Bowl teams should not be penalized for their team’s success.
After two great years with the Giants, the first two as coordinator, Spagnuolo was hired by the St. Louis Rams as head coach. Like many first-time NFL head coaches, Spagnuolo inherited a mess. The Rams have gone 3-13 and 2-14 in his past two seasons.
Spagnuolo was no miracle worker. He posted records of 1-15, 7-9, 2-14, and 10-38 overall in the three seasons before his firing.
Those who were with Spagnuolo during his time with the Rams said he deserved a better player.
“It’s past time for Spags to have another head coaching opportunity,” Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said in a statement. I wrote to X In response to Hill’s post.
Demoff, who was in his first year with the Rams when Spagnuolo took over, spoke at length about all the problems Spagnuolo couldn’t overcome, including the salary cap turmoil, the NFL lockout that sank his momentum after a 7-9 season, and a rash of injuries. , Josh McDaniels arrived late as offensive coordinator in 2011, hampering the development of quarterback Sam Bradford.
“The team and organization he inherited at STL was in disarray and no one was able to succeed,” Demoff wrote. “Yet he changed the culture that our staff and players believed in. He’s a great human being who deserves to be given a real shot that we weren’t given.”
Spagnuolo’s only other shot since then came late in the 2017 season, when the Giants fired Ben McAdoo after 12 games. Spagnuolo was named interim head coach in his second stint in charge of the Giants’ defense, but finished with a 1-3 record amid a lackluster lineup.
In some ways, Spagnuolo is in the perfect position. He’s incredibly respected and has a chance for another Super Bowl ring as long as Mahomes stays healthy. In some ways, he may be too kind of a guy to succeed as an NFL head coach. He’s not soft-spoken, but he’s so humble and calm that the role of an NFL head coach might not suit him.
