The New York Giants won’t be changing defensive coordinators this season. Despite interest from other teams such as the Jets, it didn’t take long this offseason for Patrick Graham to agree to a new contract with the Giants. The extension came after the Jets asked to interview Graham, and confirmed that he’ll remain with the Giants instead of looking into the head coaching options.
One person that’s happy about the immediate move to keep Graham is Joe Judge, who was largely involved in the hiring of Graham in the first place this offseason.
“Keeping Pat here was definitely a priority for us. We know Pat’s gonna have a lot of opportunities going forward. He’s a very, very smart coach, he’s very good communicator, he has a lot of really good ideas and he’s very good getting the players to buy in and understand the concept he’s trying to do,” Judge said while speaking to WFAN on Tuesday.
The Giants defense improved quickly under Graham, with the Giants finishing in the top half of the league in terms of stopping the opponent from gaining yards. They also allowed the 9th least opponent points, and several players such as Leonard Williams and James Bradberry stepped up to have improved performances while playing under Graham.
Defense kept the Giants in several games, and they could have had more wins if it wasn’t for having one of the worst offenses in the league. So, it’s understandable that keeping Graham was a priority.
“I tell you what, that to me was huge. That was huge. Pat’s a great coach, he’s a good friend. Being able to keep him in this organization for as long as we can, that definitely was a priority. He’s a tremendous help to me, he carries that title of assistant head coach and that’s not just fluff on a sheet. He does a lot of things helping me internally,” Judge said about the coach.
Both of the Giants’ coordinators have received interest from other teams. Graham obviously turned down the chance to interview for the Jets job, but offensive coordinator Jason Garrett accepted an interview from the Chargers. It remains to be seen what the staff will look like come the 2021 season, but we do know for sure that the Giants will keep their best performing coordinator from 2020.