The New York Giants have fired Joe Judge, and they might see Judge’s top coordinator choose to take his leave also. According to a report from Aaron Wilson, Patrick Graham is getting attention around the league and is on the radar of the Minnesota Vikings as a head coach candidate.
New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, a Yale graduate and former New England Patriots linebackers coach, is highly regarded in NFL circles for his coaching acumen and leadership and is on the radar of the Minnesota Vikings and other NFL teams, per sources
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 14, 2022
Graham, of course, is the most respected member of the Giants staff right now. In fact, Graham is arguably in the running to replace Joe Judge as the head coach in New York. It would be a longshot, however, and there’s no guarantee that Graham stays around if a better job comes up elsewhere.
It’s a change from last season, when Graham turned down an interview for the Jets head coaching position. Graham didn’t seem that interested in becoming a head coach back then, but that is changing after the situation for the Giants grew worse over the past year. Additionally, Graham came to the organization because of the Judge hire. With a friend no longer there, Graham may see less reason to shy away from looking for a better job.
It’s unclear whether any teams are considering Graham as one of their main candidates, but it’s not unreasonable to say that some teams might be willing to look past the drop in performance in Graham’s defense over the past season. Not only did the Giants suffer from an unlucky amount of injuries compared to the league average, the defense was also forced to cover constantly for an offense that couldn’t stay on the field.
It seems like Graham could have a head coaching job sooner rather than later. If he doesn’t end up promoted within the Giants organization, that chance could come elsewhere instead.