The New York Giants fired defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, head coach Tom Coughlin announced on Wednesday. Cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta was also let go. The Giants finished the season with the 29th-ranked defense in the NFL, surrendering more than 375 yards per game.
Giants fire defensive coordinator Perry Fewell
The Giants finished 2014 with the NFL’s 29th-ranked defense after having the eighth-ranked defense in 2013.
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Fewell, 52, spent five seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Giants after four seasons with the Buffalo Bills and was considered likely to stay with the Giants for the 2015 season. The team won the Super Bowl during the 2011 season with Fewell as the defensive coordinator, but it hasn't been back to the postseason since, falling to a 6-10 record this season.
Coughlin took the blame for the Giants’ struggles, but admitted that a shakeup in the coaching staff was needed:
“No one person is responsible for what happened in this year,” Coughlin said. “That has to be loud and clear. If there is any one person responsible, it is me. It is not Perry Fewell. It is not Peter Giunta. Both of them are outstanding football coaches in their own way. The simple fact of the matter is in the circumstance that we find ourselves, change is necessary.”
The process to replace Fewell hasn't yet begun, but there are already a few candidates who are expected to receive interest from the Giants. Vacchiano reported that current Ravens defensive backs coach Steve Spagnuolo is on the short list for the Giants. Spagnuolo was previously the defensive coordinator under Coughlin in 2007 and 2008 and guided the Giants to top-10 defenses in both seasons before the St. Louis Rams hired him as their head coach for an unsuccessful three-year stretch. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports also named Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan as a candidate.
After finishing with the No. 8 defense in 2013, the dropoff on the defensive side of the ball was significant for the Giants. It was aided by plenty by injuries though -- the Giants racked up the NFL's largest injured reserve, including defensive contributors like Jon Beason, Mathias Kiwanuka and Robert Ayers.
Fewell was the interim head coach for the Bills in 2009 for the final seven games of the regular season after Dick Jauron was fired and led the team to a 3-4 record.
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