The New York Giants have rebuilt their coaching staff this offseason. After firing Pat Shurmur two seasons into his contract, the Giants hired Joe Judge to be their new head coach. Judge won fans over quickly with a passionate introductory press conference. Since then, fans have been keeping a close eye on Judge’s staff as he goes through and hires his assistant coaches.
The hiring of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was met with mixed reviews. The former Dallas Cowboys head coach received much criticism during his time in Dallas, but there are reasons for fans to be optimistic. Garrett coached numerous top-ten offenses and has the experience that Judge and most of the rest of the staff lacks. Regardless of what the consensus on Garrett might be, there is one assistant coach hiring that no one should complain about.
Joe Judge hit a home run hiring his running backs coach. Burton Burns, former Alabama University running backs coach, was appointed to fill the same role with the New York Giants.
Burton Burns’s Resumé
The New York Giants’ new running backs coach has been an assistant coach since 1981. He has never coached in the NFL, only the collegiate level. However, Burton Burns has a fantastic track record developing young running backs in college.
Burton Burns is credited with the development of numerous star running backs from Alabama. In fact, Burns has coached three Heisman-Finalist running backs: Mark Ingram (2009), Trent Richardson (2011), and Derrick Henry (2015). Ingram and Henry were both recipients of the award.
Upon hearing the news of the Giants’ recent hiring of Burton Burns, Ingram and Henry excitedly gave ringing endorsements of Burton to Giants’ running back Saquon Barkley via social media. Henry called Burton Burns “the best” on Instagram, and Ingram referred to him as “the best coach” he ever had.
Derrick Henry and Mark Ingram with high praise for @Saquon’s new RBs coach Burton Burns. ? #GiantsNation pic.twitter.com/alK3c9fovC
— Giants Nation (@NYG_Nation10) January 18, 2020
Burton Burns will be the man to elevate Saquon Barkley’s game. After a disappointing 2019 season, 2020 should be a strong bounce-back season for the Giants’ star running back. Barkley saw a decline in production this past season.
Granted, Saquon Barkley dealt with an injury in 2019, but he still was a less-efficient back when healthy. His rushing yards per attempt fell from 5.0 to 4.6, and his yards per game fell from 81.7 to 77.2. Many attribute Saquon and the rest of the team’s reduced level of play to the former coaching staff. Well, with Burton Burns on board, there will be no such excuse for Saquon in 2020.