What New York Giants interviewing Lou Anarumo means for coaching search

Sunday, the New York Giants interviewed Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo for the team’s head coaching vacancy, the fourth candidate with a defensive background

The New York Giants added another candidate with a defensive background to the team’s head coaching search, interviewing Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo Sunday.

News of Anarumo’s interview was first reported by Tom Pelissero, of the NFL Network.

Anarumo, who coached the Giants‘ defensive backs under former head coach Pat Shurmur in 2018, joins Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, New York Giants defensive coordinator Pat Graham, and Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, as three other candidates whose background is on the defensive side of the ball.

Saturday against the Tennessee Titans, Anarumo’s Bengals defense held Tennessee to 16 points, intercepted quarterback Ryan Tannehill three times, and sacked him once in a 19-16 road win in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.

This season, the Bengals’ defense finished ranked No. 18 in total defense in the NFL, allowing 350.8 yards per game, and 17th in scoring defense, allowing 22.1 points per game.

However, in Cincinnati’s pair of postseason victories, Anarumo’s defense held the Titans to 16 points, and the Las Vegas Raiders to 19, a marked improvement and they did it against playoff caliber competition.

Why Lou Anarumo is in the mix for the New York Giants’ head coaching job

There is obviously familiarity between owner John Mara and Anarumo, from his prior tenure with the organization, but Anarumo also has ties to general manager Joe Schoen.

Schoen and Anarumo were both in the Miami Dolphins’ organization at the same time from 2012-2017, when Anarumo coached defensive backs and served as the interim defensive coordinator in 2015.

It seems apparent by interviewing Anarumo, Graham, Quinn, and Frazier, that the New York Giants see the success that dominant defenses have had against high-flying offenses thus far in the postseason that has bucked the trend of offenses ruling the day across the league and believe the balance might be tipping in that side of the ball’s direction.

If the New York Giants land on Anarumo as their next head coach, he would not be eligible to officially take the job until either after the Super Bowl, or the Bengals’ season ends, whichever comes first.