Now that the New York Giants officially have John Harbaugh on board, the next step is assembling the coaching staff. The assumption is that Harbaugh wants to bring some of his guys with him, mainly OC Todd Monken to call plays, but the bigger question is what New York will do at the DC spot.
Interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen is expected to get a look, but his future with the team is very much up in the air. Obviously, Big Blue would like to try to keep him, but that may have just been complicated by the Dallas Cowboys, who requested to interview Bullen for their opening at DC, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Despite having talent all over the unit, Dallas' defense ranked among the worst in football in 2025 because of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Since Eberflus was fired, they've searched long and hard for someone to call plays, and they're even looking at a coach who stifled their offense in Week 18.
NY Giants interim DC Charlie Bullen is interviewing for the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator opening
The 41-year-old did an admirable job with the New York defense after Shane Bowen was fired midseason, but it wasn't to silence the doubters completely. After Abdul Carter turned a corner down the stretch, he said he wanted Bullen back in 2026, which is very telling after his whole Bowen fiasco.
Not only did the prized first-round rookie improve by the end of the season, but Bullen's defense did as a whole. The Giants ranked fourth in EPA per play and sixth in drop-back EPA from Weeks 15 to 18, which also coincides with when Big Blue's schedule started to get significantly easier.
Bullen has been regarded as a popular name to fill DC openings, but this is his first known interview request. He has ties to two of the best defensive minds in football, in Vance Joseph and Matt Burke, which is something that teams will obviously take into account while considering him as a candidate.
Bullen worked with Joseph in Miami in 2016 and followed him to Arizona from 2019 to 2022. He was one of Burke's (the then-DC) top lieutenants after Joseph left the Dolphins to take the Broncos' head coaching job. That's why Mike Kafka turned to him over more experienced options to take over the defense after Bowen was fired.
It's unclear whether Bullen is a top candidate just yet, because he could be a top assistant in Dallas under another top candidate he coached with, Jim Leonhard. Regardless, Bullen will be coaching somewhere in 2026, and frankly, it doesn't seem like it will be in New York.