Giants hire Michael Ghobrial away from Jets to be their special teams coordinator
Then-Jets special teams assistant Michael Ghobrial before a game against the Miami Dolphins on, Dec. 19, 2021. Credit: AP/Doug Murray
The Giants have hired Michael Ghobrial as their special teams coordinator, and they didn’t have to look far to find him.
Ghobrial spent the last three years on the Jets’ staff as a special teams assistant under coordinator Brant Boyer.
The Giants announced the hiring on Thursday morning. Ghobrial replaces Thomas McGaughey, who was fired Jan. 8.
In a season in which the team employed four kickers, the Giants made just 71% of their field-goal attempts. Only the Patriots, at 64%, were worse.
In the season opener, the Giants had a field-goal attempt blocked and the Cowboys returned it for a touchdown. In Week 4, at home against the Seahawks, the unit was inept, committing six penalties.
In annual special teams rankings compiled by sportswriter Rick Gosselin, the Giants finished tied with the Panthers for 23rd overall.
According to FootballOutsiders.com, the Jets were the only team in the league to have top 5 rankings this season in both kickoff and punt return yardage.
Before joining the Jets, Ghobrial was a college special teams coordinator for five seasons at Washington State (2020), Hawaii (2018-19) and Tarleton State (2016-17).
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
