Add another name to the Giants’ prospective head coach list, and make it another guy from the defensive side of the ball.
The Giants held a teleconference interview Sunday morning with Lou Anarumo, the Bengals’ defensive coordinator and no stranger. Amarumo was on Pat Shurmur’s staff in 2018, serving as the defensive backs coach in his only year with the Giants.
This is the third interview the Giants have conducted, all remotely thus far. They spoke with Brian Daboll, the Bills’ offensive coordinator, Friday evening, the same day Joe Schoen was named the new general manager. Saturday morning, the Giants met remotely with Leslie Frazier, the Bills’ defensive coordinator. On Monday, they have an in-person interview scheduled at the team facility with Dan Quinn, the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator and the former Falcons head coach. Patrick Graham, the Giants’ own defensive coordinator, will also interview for the head coach position. Graham could have options. The Steelers have requested an interview with Graham for their open defensive coordinator position, according to NFL Network.
The Giants are also interested in Brian Flores, fired after the season by the Dolphins, and are expected to bring him in for a formal meeting.
Schoen and co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch are conducting the interviews.
Of the six candidates they have interviewed or are expected to interview, only one — Daboll — is an offensive coach. Considering the Giants’ demise can easily be traced back to a barely functioning offense, this can be considered a surprise. With any of these defensive coordinators trying to get the Giants’ job, one of the first questions in need of an answer is who they plan to hire as their offensive coordinator, identifying who will be entrusted with the further development of Daniel Jones’ career.
On the day he was hired, Schoen did not pinpoint any particular expertise in the coach he will look to hire.
“We will cast a wide net,’’ Schoen said. “It can be former head coaches, first-time head coaches but, more importantly, it has to be a person who possesses the ability to lead an organization and the ability to motivate and develop players.’’
It is likely Schoen pushed for this most recent interview. He and Anarumo spent six years (2012-2017) together with the Dolphins, Amarumo as the defensive backs coach and Schoen working in college player scouting and evaluation.
Anarumo, 55, knows his way around the area. He is a Staten Island native who played and got his coaching start at Wagner College. He received his NFL indoctrination in 2012 with the Dolphins and in 2019 was named the Bengals defensive coordinator after Zac Taylor was hired as the head coach. Anarumo’s defense was 17th in the NFL in 2021, allowing 22.1 points a game, and the unit is rising to the challenge in the playoffs as the Bengals defeated the Raiders (26-19) and Titans (19-16) to advance to the AFC Championship game.
It was imperative the Giants quickly met with any coordinator still alive in the playoffs, which is why they scheduled and completed first interviews with Daboll, Frazier and Anarumo. If the Bills or Bengals continue to advance, the Giants will be able to schedule a second interview with these candidates the week before the Super Bowl. No first interviews are allowed the week before the Super Bowl with candidates from teams still in action.
The Giants did not go into the coaching search ranking the candidates and assigning “favorite’’ status. It is an open competition. But there is a pecking order, and Schoen’s familiarity with Daboll and the Giants’ need for a complete overhaul on offense could give Daboll an advantage.