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Giants Request Permission to Interview Bills Assistant Coach for DC Role

Head coach Brian Daboll is reaching back into his past as he continues searching for a new defensive coordinator.

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, who is still looking to hire a defensive coordinator to replace Wink Martindale, has reached back into his past for a potential candidate.

The Giants, per an NFL Network report, have requested permission from the Buffalo Bills to speak with linebackers coach Bobby Babich. 

The 40-year-old Babich began coaching at Kent State in 2006 as a graduate assistant. Five years later, he landed his first NFL assignment as an administrative assistant for the Carolina Panthers coaching staff in 2011. The following year, Babich was named a defensive assistant for the Panthers.

In 2013, he landed with the Cleveland Browns, where he was an assistant defensive backs coach for three seasons. Following the 2015 season, he went back to the college ranks, turning up as the secondary coach and defensive pass game coordinator for FIU before landing back in the NFL in 2017 with the Bills, first as their assistant defensive backs coach for a season, followed by four years as the safeties coach and two years (2022-2023) as the linebackers coach. 

Babich, who has never been a defensive coordinator at any coaching level, worked under former Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who was on the Bills staff during Daboll's time there.

 Babich is the son of Bob Babich, whose coaching career spanned the 1984-2021 seasons at both the college and pro levels, and whose only head coaching experience came in 1997-2002 with North Dakota State. Bob Babich was also a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 2007-2008 and the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-2015, finishing his coaching career with his son on Sean MDermott's Bills staff. 

The younger Babich is the seventh candidate linked to the Giants defensive coordinator position, which opened when Martindale resigned. Others being considered for the role include Miami Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, Baltimore Ravens defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson, Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley, and Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.