Jets Request Permission to Interview Giants Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham | Report
New York Giants assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, fresh off a season in which he transformed the Giants defense into a unit that finished 12th overall (349.3 yards/game), has drawn the interest of the New York Jets for their head coaching vacancy according to an NFL Network report.
Graham, 41 years old, just completed his second NFL season as a defensive coordinator and his first with the Giants on Joe Judge’s staff.
Graham, who before coming to the Giants was the defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, weathered having new faces, including a revolving door at one of the cornerback spots, and fighting through injuries to his outside linebackers to put a unit together that finished 9th in average points allowed (22.3/game), 10th against the run (111.4 yards/game) and 17th against the pass (237.9 yards/game).
Graham's Giants held opponents to 20 or fewer points in nine of their games this year, including their big Week 17 win over a Dallas Cowboys offense that had scored 30+ points in their three games prior.
Even without an established pass rusher, Graham's schemes resulted in the team finishing with 40 sacks on the year, tying the Giants with the Colts. Praised for his intelligence, creativity, and never-ending quest to outduel his competition, Graham quickly endeared himself to his players by incorporating their feedback on the weekly game plan.
Judge declined to comment on the report, saying, "I’m not now nor will I ever comment on any coach’s job, job prospects or any hypothetical reports about jobs until something is finalized and official."
But he did acknowledge that he was expecting new head coaches hired around the league to potentially reach out about interviewing some of his assistants.
"I think it’s easy to acknowledge that we have a number of coaches that do a good job," Judge said. "I expect a number of requests for several of our coaches this offseason and we’ll deal with that internally when they come up."
Graham has never been a head coach at any level. Still, his experience and his pedigree--he comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree where he was a Patriots assistant from 2009-15--combined with the success he had with the Giants makes the Yale-educated Graham an attractive head coaching candidate.
