When the New York Giants finally fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, they elevated outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen to interim DC for the rest of the season. The move came as a relative surprise -- the G-Men had two former DCs on their staff already.
Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reported that sources have informed him there have been mixed reactions to Bullen’s hiring. And that makes a lot of sense.
There have been mixed reactions inside #Giants building to the choice of Charlie Bullen over more experienced assistants to replace Shane Bowen as DC, sources told me.
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) December 6, 2025
And now Bryan Cox is fired at end of bye. Reason unknown. https://t.co/om2EWyQvYd #NYGiants
Secondary coach Marquand Manuel spent time as the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive play-caller in 2017. Meanwhile, defensive line coach Andre Patterson served as the Minnesota Vikings’ DC in 2020 and 2021. As for Bullen, he’s held a couple of assistant roles between the pros and college, but nothing close to the capacity he’s in now. So what gives?
Ask anyone who’s been around the corporate block -- it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And for the 40-year-old first-time play-caller, general manager Joe Schoen might’ve had more to do with his promotion than anyone realizes.
Joe Schoen’s fingerprints are all over Giants’ Charlie Bullen promotion
Bullen's first NFL job was with the Miami Dolphins in 2012. In his seven seasons with the Phins, the Illinois native wore a couple of different hats -- defensive assistant, assistant linebackers coach, and assistant defensive line coach.
While he worked under four different coordinators during his time with the Aqua and Orange, it was the ties to a front office executive that helped pave the way to his first big-time gig.
Before Schoen was hired as assistant GM of the Buffalo Bills in 2017, he spent nine seasons in South Beach, overlapping with Bullen for six seasons. I'm sure their previous relationship had absolutely nothing to do with his unlikely new job opportunity...
It's pretty obvious Schoen used some of his influence here. It's been fed to Giants fans that interim head coach Mike Kafka has been in charge of the coaching decisions after Brian Daboll was fired. The 38-year-old named Tim Kelly as his interim offensive coordinator, and two weeks later, fired Bowen and promoted Bullen.
But what if Kafka hasn't been given the leash Schoen would like us to believe he has? Is this just a ploy to distance the much-maligned GM from another potential failure that inevitably blows up in his face? It certainly feels like it.
After all, why wouldn't Kaf want the help of either of the former DCs on the staff? Why tie his fate to a first-time play-caller? It doesn't add up -- the math isn't mathing. So, yeah, of course there are mixed reactions to the Bullen decision. It reeks of shady nepotism. Meanwhile, the G-Men are firing other coaches in the subtlest ways possible, like just erasing Bryan Cox off the Giants' official website.
A lot of weird stuff is going on in East Rutherford. Everyone needs to go once the season wraps up. It's time for a clean break.