Report: Giants Expected to Stay with Shane Bowen as Defensive Coordinator “As of Now”

Plus the Giants may be losing a key front office advisor to the Patriots.

Jul 24, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen looks on during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have been silent since last week when team co-owner John Mara announced that head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen would be retained in their respective roles.

Since then, it has been anticipated that Daboll might be looking to make changes to his coaching staff, starting with defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

That speculation, which began when Mara specifically mentioned the defense's struggles, further increased with the anticipation of Mike Vrabel landing a head coaching job, which he did on Sunday with the New England Patriots.

NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo believes that as of right now, it’s status quo with the Giants as far as Bowen’s position is concerned.

To be clearer on #Giants DC Shane Bowen: My understanding is Brian Daboll is moving forward with him as his coordinator. My best read on it as of now is he remains in that role in East Rutherford in 2025 https://t.co/BZAhWwfIpN

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 12, 2025

“My understanding is Brian Daboll is moving forward with (Bowen) as his coordinator,” Garafolo said on Sunday’s NFL GameDay Morning program. “My best read on it as of now is he remains in that role in East Rutherford in 2025.”

The key phrase in Garafolo’s report is “as of now,” which still leaves the door open for a possible change. 

When he spoke to reporters last Monday, Daboll kept mum about any changes he was contemplating.  

NY Giants President and CEO John Mara before the start of the game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

But Mara's specific mentioning of the defense’s performance this past season as an area where improvements were necessary put the spotlight on Bowen.

“Quite frankly, I didn't think our defense played very well this year at all,” he said. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I'm tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed.” 

Mara also added that while he’s not going to demand any staff and operational changes be made from Daboll, there will continue to be additional discussions about what went wrong in 2024 and how they plan to address it.

“At the end of the day, he's got to make the decision on whether he does that, on whether he wants to make replacements in the staff,” Mara said.  

In other Giants news, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported that Ryan Cowden, listed as an executive advisor to the general manager, is expected to join Vrabel in New England in a personnel role, though not as a general manager. 

Cowden, who just finished his second season with the Giants, spent five seasons as the Titans' vice president of player personnel, where he obviously worked with Vrabel when he was the head coach.  

---

More Giants Coverage

• New York Giants 2024 Position Unit Review: Quarterbacks

• New York Radio Host Has Bold Suggestion for Giants' Bridge QB Solution

• Three Biggest Offseason Priorities for New York Giants

• Three Non-QB Draft Options for Giants in First Round

• New York Giants Mailbag: The "Where Do We Go from Here?" Edition

• Five Intriguing Giants Players We Want to See More of in 2025

• New York Giants Three-Roud Mock Draft: The "K.I.S.S." Version

---

New York Giants On SI Social Media

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow on Instagram.
• Check out the New York Giants on SI YouTube Channel.