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Giants Announce New Assistant Coaches | News Briefs

The Giants assistant coaching staff has quietly undergone some changes since the season ended.

Patricia Traina

Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; A New York Giants helmet rests on the turf before the game between the Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium.
Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; A New York Giants helmet rests on the turf before the game between the Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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FEB. 13. GIANTS ANNOUNCE NEW ASSISTANT COACHES. The New York Giants announced several new additions to the coaching staff, among them confirming the hires of Marquand Manuel as the new defensive secondary coach, Jeff Burris as the new cornerbacks coach, and Chad Hall as the assistant quarterbacks coach.

The team also added Troy Brown as an offensive assistant as part of the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship; and Steven Ferentz (brother of Giants assistant offensive line coach James Ferentz) and Grant Morgan as defensive assistants.

The team also revamped the Strength and Conditioning coaches under executive director of player performance Aaron Wellman. The newcomers include Dr. Matthew Frakes (director of performance nutrition) and Chris Allen and Mark Naylor (assistant strength and conditioning coaches). 

Drew Wilson was also promoted to the position of director of strength and conditioning.

While not announced, the team did lose another assistant. That would be Christian Daboll, the son of head coach Brian Daboll, who, according to the New York Daily News, is departing to pursue other opportunities.

The younger Daboll, who had been an offensive assistant on his father’s staff, is the __ assistant coach who will leave the team this offseason either on his own accord or through termination. 

Cornerbacks coach Jerome Henderson and safeties coach Michael Treier were terminated after the 2024 season concluded. 

Assistant quarterbacks coach Christian Jones accepted the tight ends coaching job with the Cleveland Browns. Defensive assistant Ben Burress joined the University of South Carolina as an assistant. 

Defensive assistant Zak Kuhr and director of strength and conditioning coach Frank Piraino were hired by new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Director of Sports and Performance Nutrition Steve Smith departed the team in January.

FEB. 12. FORMER GIANTS WR KADARIUS TONEY ARRESTED (REPORT). Former New York Giants receiver Kadarius Toney was arrested last week for allegedly strangling a woman, according to TMZ Sports.

Toney allegedly assaulted the woman on January 14 at a Georgia residence. He was accused of exerting enough pressure on the woman’s throat to leave her struggling to breathe and, according to police reports obtained by TMZ Sports, “leave red marks on the woman’s neck and petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes.”.

The receiver was also alleged to have taken the woman’s phone away, preventing her from calling for help. 

Toney, who won two Super Bowl championships with the Kansas City Chiefs, is facing one count each of aggravated assault and obstructing/harassing 911 calls. According to the report, he was arrested on February 6, and his bond was set at $25,000 for each count against him.

Toney was a first-round draft pick for the Giants in 2021 out of the University of Florida. He was selected 20th overall after the Giants traded down that year in the first round. 

The receiver struggled to fit into the New York market, picking fights with media and fans alike during his short time with the team. 

General manager Joe Schoen traded him to the Chiefs in 2022 after Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll had had enough of Toney’s drama.

Toney last played for the Cleveland Browns in 2024, appearing in three games.

FEB. 11. GIANTS WAIVER WIRE POSITION SET. With the 2025 NFL draft order officially set, so too is the upcoming waiver wire order, which begins after the league’s draft and runs through the regular season.

The waiver wire order will mirror that of the 2025 draft order for the duration of the offseason and the first three weeks of the regular season, after which point it will be reshuffled based on the 32 team records. 

That means the New York Giants will hold the third spot in the waiver wire order through the third week of the 2025 season.

The team with the worst record will have the first spot in the waiver claim order, while the team with the best record will be last. Tiebreakers between teams will be determined based on the strength of their schedule.

When a player is waived by his team, each of the 31 other teams can claim his services. The team that ranks the highest in the order and has a claim on the player will be awarded the player’s contract and the player will be automatically added to the 53-man roster.

If a team has claimed multiple players, it must prioritize which players it wants. In other words, a team that is first in the waiver wire order and puts in a claim for three players will not be awarded all three unless the other teams do not put a claim on the three.

One other note regarding waivers. If a player is waived-injured and isn’t claimed, he will automatically go to the original team’s injured reserve list.

FEB. 10. GIANTS HIRE ASSISTANT QUARTERBACKS COACH. The New York Giants have hired a new assistant quarterbacks coach to replace Christian Jones, who accepted the tight ends coach role with the Cleveland Browns last week.

The newest assistant on Giants head coach Brian Daboll’s staff is Chad Hall, a former NFL wide receiver who went undrafted in 2008 out of the Air Force Academy. Hall saw his first NFL action as a player in 2010 with the Eagles, with whom he played two seasons. He then went to the 49ers, Chiefs, and Jaguars, each for one season, before calling it quits as a player and turning to coaching.

His first coaching assignment came with the Bills from 2017-2022, first as an offensive assistant for two seasons and then as the team’s wide receivers coach from 2019 to 2022, where he, of course, worked with Daboll, then the Bills offensive coordinator, and Joe Schoen, then the assistant general manager. 

Hall spent the last two seasons with the Jaguars as their receivers coach. The retired Air Force second lieutenant is also the brother-in-law of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who could find himself on the trading block this offseason if he cannot reach a new deal with the Rams regarding his contract.

FEB. 9. GIANTS AHC/OC MIKE KAFKA NOT EXPECTED TO GET THE SAINTS HEAD COACHING JOB. New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who had two interviews with the New Orleans Saints for their head coaching job this hiring cycle, looks like he’ll return to the Giants for a third season.

The Saints are expected to hire Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

This development comes as no surprise. If the Saints were more interested in Kafka, they likely would have hired him well before now and given him a chance to build a staff. 

Instead, they have been waiting for Moore, whom they can’t officially hire until after the Super Bowl since his team is still active this postseason, to get the ball rolling.

Also according to the ESPN report, Moore plans to take the Saints job.

Kafka’s return means the Giants will not receive a pair of compensatory picks at the bottom of the third round this year or next year, a provision made by the Rooney Rule to teams who lose a candidate with a minority background to a head coaching or general manager position (Kafka is of Puerto Rican descent). 

Kafka has drawn plenty of interest in head coaching positions over the last three cycles, including interviews with the Cardinals, Colts, Panthers, and Texans after the 2022 season, Seahawks and Titans after 2023, and Bears and Saints this cycle. 

The question now becomes whether Kafka, who had the play-calling duties taken away from him in 2024 by head coach Brian Daboll but who was also “promoted” to assistant head coach, will regain that responsibility or if Daboll will retain it, given that new quarterbacks are coming in this year.

FEB. 8. PLAXICO BURRESS’S SUPER BOWL RING UP FOR AUCTION. Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Eli Manning to defeat the previously undefeated New England Patriots during Super Bowl XLII, has put his Super Bowl championship ring on the auction block.

The diamond-crusted 14K white gold ring, listed by Heritage Auctions, currently has a bid of $35,000. According to the item description listed by the auction house, Burress certified in writing that the size 11 ring is the only one he received from the team to commemorate his participation in the Giants’ stunning championship victory and that no duplicate copies were made of the estimated $100,000 item.

New York Giants Super Bowl XLII ring
A view of Super Bowl XLII ring to commemorate the New York Giants 17-14 victory over the New England Patriots at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Feb 3, 2008. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Burress’s football career fell apart in 2008 that began when a gun he was carrying on his person accidentally discharged, injuring his thigh during an evening at a Manhattan nightclub.

It was later found that the gun belonging to Burress, for which he had a concealed weapons permit from the state of Florida that had expired, was not registered in New York. 

The receiver was initially charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree but eventually reached a plea deal where the charges were reduced to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, the receiver being sentenced to a two-year prison term. 

The Giants released Burress to allow him to focus on resolving his legal obligations. The receiver did not play during the 2009 and 2010 seasons due to serving his prison sentence and a suspension by the league for having violated the league’s personal conduct policy. 

He returned to the NFL in 2011 with the Jets, for whom he played 16 games with 13 starts. He concluded his playing career the following season with the Steelers, the team with whom he began his NFL career in 2000 as a first-round draft pick.

FEB. 6. GIANTS ASSISTANT COACH UPDATES. The New York Giants have reportedly hired Jeff Burriss as their new assistant secondary/cornerbacks coach, FOX Sports insider Jordan Schultz reported. 

Burris will join newly hired defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel, who was hired last month to replace Jerome Henderson, to oversee the cornerbacks and safeties.

Burriss is a former NFL cornerback. The Buffalo Bills selected him in the first round of the 1994 draft out of Notre Dame, and he played for them for four seasons. He also played for the Colts, Bengals, and Patriots, and his final year of playing was 2004.

Burris turned to coaching in 2011, first at the high school level, before moving to college the following year to join the UMass staff. He did spend three seasons with the Miami Dolphins as their assistant defensive backs coach (2013-2015), which would have put him in the organization around the same time as current Giants general manager Joe Schoen. 

Burris returned to the college ranks in 2016 and remained there, making career stops at Notre Dame, Northern Iowa, Louisiana Tech (twice, including last year), and Louisiana.  

In other Giants coaching news, Giants assistant quarterbacks coach Christian Jones, who has interviewed with the Browns and Seahawks for their quarterbacks coaching positions, has been hired by the Browns to be their tight ends coach, according to NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo.

FEB. 4. REPORT: GIANTS AGM BRANDON BROWN TO INTERVIEW FOR JAGUARS GM POST. New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown, who didn’t get the Las Vegas general manager job that instead went to John Spytek last month, is getting one last chance this hiring cycle at a general manager post.

CBS insider Jonathan Jones reported that Brown is among five candidates that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who fired Trent Baalke last month. requested permission to interview for their vacancy.

The others include Chargers assistant general manager Chad Alexander, Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, and Bucs assistant general manager Mike Greenberg.

The Jaguars have already hired their new head coach, Liam Coen, to replace the fired Doug Pederson. Coen has already begun filling out his coaching staff, so whoever gets the general manager post won’t have much say regarding how the coaching staff takes shape.

It’s unknown if not having had a say in the head coaching post might dampen any enthusiasm for the Jaguars’ general manager job.  

Brown has been busy with the Giants lately, having attended the Shrine and Senior Bowls last week. It’s unknown if he plans to interview with the Jaguars or wait another year to see if additional general manager positions open up.

FEB 3. EX-GIANTS RB SAQUON BARKLEY BECOMES ENGAGED. Former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley had quite the calendar year in 2024 between finally getting the contract he wanted and showing he still had plenty of life left in his 27-year-old body.

For Barkley, the 2025 calendar year might be even better.

In addition to trying to help the Eagles pursue their second Super Bowl championship this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, Barkley shared with People magazine that he and his longtime girlfriend, Anna Congdon, recently became engaged.

The 27-year-old Barkley, who celebrates his birthday on Super Bowl Sunday, shares daughter Jada and son Saquon, Jr. with Congdon, whom he’s known since their days at Penn State, where they met in 2017. He credited Congdon for her unconditional support as he transitioned from college to superstardom in the NFL.

"I can't be the athlete I am and have the success I have so in my career without the help of her," he said.

"She's been super helpful and always has my back, not only in football but throughout life. But as we continue to grow and mature and go through life together, we continue getting closer and continue to get even better."

Barkley broke the hearts of Giants fans everywhere when, after a tumultuous round of contract negotiations with the team that made him the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, he bolted for the Giants biggest rivals last offseason after general manager Joe Schoen elected not to use the franchise tag a second time to retain Barkley’s services.

Schoen, as it was later learned on Hard Knocks, not only didn’t make the running back a new offer after doing so several times the previous offseason, but he also stated his belief that running backs tended to deteriorate performance-wise once they hit age 27.

Barkley proved Schoen wrong by rushing for over 2,000 yards behind an arguably better offensive line in Philadelphia than he would have had in New York.

This has undoubtedly caused Giants team co-owner John Mara, who famously said during an episode of Hard Knocks that he’d have trouble sleeping if Barkley went to the Eagles. 

FEB. 1. GIANTS IDL DEXTER LAWRENCE HAMS IT UP AT THE PRO BOWL. New York Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence didn’t have much to smile about during the 2024 season between the team’s 3-14 record, the worst in its 100-year history, and his season-ending injury.

But Lawrence, a team leader and defensive captain who is widely respected for his easygoing leadership style, seemed to be having a blast at this year’s Pro Bowl skills challenge down in Orlando, Florida.

Lawrence was caught on video egging on his fellow NFC all-stars to attempt his "Sexy Dexy" sack celebraton dance.

Among those who tried to replicate it--some with success and some without--included fellow Giants teammate Malik Nabers, Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, Bucs defensive lineman Vita Vea, and Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson.

Lawrence, nicknamed “Sexy Dexy, did his to dance nine times this past season, one each for his career-high nine sacks recorded in just 12 games.

The only member of the Giants to be voted as a "starter" for the annual Pro Bowl, Lawrence attended despite having had his 2024 campaign cut short due to a dislocated elbow suffered against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

FEB. 1. GIANTS ASSISTANT COACH GETS ANOTHER INTERVIEW. New York Giants assistant quarterbacks coach Christian Jones, who last month interviewed for the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach role that ultimately went to Ashton Grant, will reportedly get another chance at landing a similar role, this time with the Seatle Seahawks.

Jones just completed his third season with the Giants and his second as the assistant quarterbacks coach. In his first season with the team (2022), he was an offensive assistant. He has spent the last two seasons in his current role.

Before joining the Giants, Jones spent three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, his first NFL coaching job. One of those seasons was as an offensive quality control coach, and two as an assistant wide receivers coach.

Before coming to the NFL, Jones was an offensive assistant and offensive line coach with Northwestern University, his alma mater in 2017, and then a graduate assistant at the University of Texas.

Jones played wide receiver for Northwestern, finishing his college career with 128 receptions for 1,509 yards and eight touchdowns in 51 games played.

If he is offered and accepts the Seahawks job, he will become the third known Giants assistant coach to leave the team for another position, following Zak Kur and Ben Burress.

He’d also be the fifth known change on head coach Brian Daboll’s staff, joining Kur, Burress, cornerbacks coach Jerome Henderson, and safeties coach Michael Treier, the latter two having been dismissed by Daboll. 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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