Ranking the New York Giants Coaching Staff: Ben McAdoo’s First Crew
By Mike Luca
13. Kevin M. Gilbride (Tight Ends)
12. Lunda Wells (Offensive Line Assistant)
11. Tom Quinn (Special Teams)
Contrary to an anticipated upheaval, several crowd favorites managed to keep their jobs in the depths of McAdoo’s coaching staff.
The tribute to Gilbride’s tenure is now less about his father’s offensive coordinator stint with the franchise and about his own pedigree. Per New York Daily News back in 2014, Gilbride assured that “the potentially awkward situation of working with McAdoo hasn’t been difficult at all” after McAdoo superseded Kevin’s dad as OC.
Evidently, the fit hasn’t worn itself out, thanks to the unprecedented surges of Larry Donnell in 2014 and then Will Tye and Jerome Cunningham last season.
As for Wells, he’s mainly acting as a bridge for the offensive line transition away from Coughlin and 12-year counterpart Pat Flaherty. Wells proved his worth upon being promoted to assistant in 2013 and will be a recognizable voice for a young and promising o-line compared to Mike Solari.
Quinn’s retainment is most relieving with the offensive and defense coordinators also being incumbents and how competently special teams performed as a whole.
Josh Brown missed just three kicks all year, field goals and extra points combined. Brad Wing ranked fifth in the NFL with 33 punts inside the 20 yard line. Dwayne Harris steadied the return game with both kick and punt return touchdowns; Seattle Seahawks’ Jermaine Kearse was the only other player to do so.
An unsung strength of this football team moving forward, letting Quinn go would’ve been a huge mistake seeing Spags and Mike Sullivan holding on to their Big Blue headsets.
Failure to match words with actions by evolving the franchise and moving away from the Coughlin regime can appear controversial after reserving all three coordinators (though Sullivan is technically a promotion).
For now, fans are forced to trust McAdoo’s process, and there are plenty of new faces in our Top 10 to generally be excited about.
Next: Get Wellman Soon