Giants Interview Vikings Defensive Assistant for Defensive Coordinator Role (Report)
The New York Giants interviewed an eighth candidate for their defensive coordinator vacancy, Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Daronte Jones, according to an NFL Network report.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the interview with Jones occurred during the week of practices at the Senior Bowl, but it's unclear exactly when that interview occurred.
Schoen, who, during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio late last week, said that the team would be patient in this process, also expressed hope that the team would have a new coordinator in place by the end of the week, the deadline of which has passed.
Jones, 45 years old, was the defensive coordinator for the National Team at the Senior Bowl. He began his coaching career in 2001 as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne College, working his way through the ranks to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator four years later at Bowie State.
Jones eventually broke into the NFL coaching ranks as an assistant defensive backs coach with the Miami Dolphins in 2016. He spent two seasons (2018-2019) as the cornerbacks coach with the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Vikings in 2020 as a defensive backs coach.
Jones briefly returned to the college ranks at LSU in 2021, where he was the defensive coordinator before rejoining the Vikings in 2022 as their defensive backs coach. In 2023, he was also given the title of defensive pass game coordinator for the Vikings; the Viking's pass defense finishing 24th in the league (234.5 yards/game allowed).
In 2022, the Vikings defensive secondary finished third in the NFL in passes defensed (87) and tied for 10th in the league for interceptions (15).
Jones joins a candidate pool that, per reports, consists of Dennard Wilson, Jerome Henderson, Bobby Babich, Shane Bowen, Derrick Ansley, Anthony Campanile, and Brendan Daly.
Babich, previously the Bills linebackers coach, was promoted to Buffalo's defensive coordinator role. Wilson, previously the defensive backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens, accepted the defensive coordinator job with the Tennessee Titans last week.
While there is growing concern over the team's failure to announce a new defensive coordinator replacing Wink Martindale, who resigned from his position on January 10 of this year, the timing so far at least seems to align with when the Giants hired Martindale, which was on February 11, 2022.
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