New Giants coach Ben McAdoo officially unveiled his coaching staff Tuesday, emphasizing he considers it a new crew even though there are 12 holdovers from Tom Coughlin’s reign.
Those holdovers include all three coordinators — offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and special teams coordinator Tom Quinn.
It’s a new group to McAdoo, though, because even the returnees had to essentially reapply for their jobs.
“This is a new staff,” McAdoo said, according to the Giants’ website. “Nobody was retained, there were no holdovers. Everyone was hired. When I sat down with everybody on the staff, that was one thing I wanted to make clear: No one was retained, no one was a holdover. Everyone was hired here as part of a new staff.”
The other returnees from Coughlin’s 2015 staff: Craig Johnson (running backs), Kevin M. Gilbride (tight ends), Lunda Wells (assistant offensive line), Ryan Roeder (offensive assistant), Tim Walton (secondary/cornerbacks), David Merritt (secondary/safeties), Rob Leonard (defensive assistant), Markus Paul (assistant strength and conditioning) and Joe Danos (performance manager).
The eight new coaches are Frank Cignetti Jr. (quarterbacks), Adam Henry (wide receivers), Mike Solari (offensive line), Patrick Graham (defensive line), Jeff Zgonina (assistant defensive line), Bill McGovern (linebackers), Dwayne Stukes (assistant special teams) and Aaron Wellman (strength and conditioning).
“I think we have a nice mix of youth and experience,” McAdoo said. “Even our young guys tend to have some experience when you look at it. I think we have good teachers who have high character and get the game and understand what we’re looking for from a vision standpoint.”
Cignetti and Solari have been coordinators at previous stops.
“You have a nice group of guys who I’ve worked with in the past, and then there’s some I haven’t worked with, and some I’ve admired from afar,” McAdoo said, according to the team. “There’s a nice mix. We talked a lot about putting a staff together that fits, number one, that has great diversity, great personality, and great character, a staff of people who can teach the game. We feel we’ve done that.”
McAdoo defended his most-scrutinized decision, retaining Spagnuolo after the Giants ranked last in the NFL in total defense and last in pass defense in 2015 — a major contributor to their second consecutive 6-10 finish that sealed Coughlin’s exit.
“When you look back at this past season, it was great working with Spags,” McAdoo said, according to the team. “He’s a tremendous leader, gets the players to play hard. We feel that if we continue to develop the young guys, add some pieces to the puzzle, and keep them playing as hard as they played last year, we’ll make progress in the second year of the system.”
McAdoo also expressed confidence in Sullivan’s ability to succeed him as offensive coordinator, the same role Sullivan filled with the Buccaneers from 2012-13. Sullivan was the Giants’ quarterbacks coach last year.
“He’s a guy, in my mind, who’s an experienced leader of men who has a championship background,” McAdoo said of Sullivan, according to the team. “He’s been in this system now for a year, and he’s familiar with the building and the people in the building, and a lot of the players in the locker room. I like that continuity there.”