Source: Giants to hire Dennard Wilson as defensive coordinator, Chris Horton as special teams coordinator

John Harbaugh has found his first Giants coordinators and both are names he’s familiar with.

The Giants are expected to hire former Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson in the same capacity and Chris Horton as special teams coordinator, a league source confirmed to Newsday.

Wilson was with the Titans for the previous two seasons and was Harbaugh’s defensive backs coach with the Ravens in 2023. Wilson also interviewed with the Giants in 2024 for their defensive coordinator vacancy before the team hired Shane Bowen.

Horton’s been the Ravens’ special teams coordinator since 2019 and he’s worked on the Ravens’ staff since 2014.

Under Wilson’s watch, the Titans were 21st in total defense, 28th in scoring (28.1 points per game) and 28th in yards per play allowed during a 3-14 season. They were also 15th in rushing defense (114.6 yards per game) and 23rd in passing.

It’s a sharp decline from 2024 when the Titans were second in total and passing defense despite being 26th in rushing and 30th in scoring (27.1).

Wilson’s also no stranger to MetLife Stadium. He was the Jets’ defensive backs coach from 2017-2020 and also served as defensive passing game coordinator in 2019 and 2020. He’s also coached defensive backs with the Eagles (2021-22) and Rams (2015-16).

Horton was previously the Ravens assistant special teams coach before Harbaugh promoted him to oversee special teams. The Ravens were fifth in opponent punt return average last season, eight in punting average and ninth in opponent kickoff return average.

Horton was also a brief member of the Giants in 2012. He signed in March and went through training camp but was waived in August. It was the last stop of his NFL career after he was drafted by Washington in 2008 and played there three seasons as a defensive back.

The Ravens reportedly blocked teams from interviewing Horton for a lateral move early last week. Since then, the team hired former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as head coach, which freed up assistants to pursue other jobs.

The Giants used four kickers last season with Graham Gano being place on injured reserve. Younghoe Koo and Jude McAtamney both filled in and were waived. Rookie Ben Sauls kicked for the final three games and was a perfect 8-for-8 on field goals.

Another Ravens coordinator, Todd Monken, remains the favorite to land the offensive coordinator job and that reunion could happen this week. Monken is a finalist for the head coaching opening with the Browns having received two interviews there, but if he does not get that job he is widely expected to join the Giants as play-caller and chief caretaker for second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart.

The Giants have already interviewed at least two other men for the offensive coordinator job. Willie Taggert, who was the Ravens’ running backs coach and assistant head coach the past two seasons, is expected to be on the Giants’ staff in a capacity similar to the role he previously played in Baltimore. The Giants also reportedly interviewed Robert Prince for the coordinator job. Prince is a longtime wide receivers coach in the NFL, most recently with the Dolphins. Giants fans will remember him as the Cowboys assistant who was down on Jalin Hyatt’s route running at his Tennessee pro day in an interaction captured for the streaming documentary “Hey Rookie Welcome to the NFL.”

Both Wilson and Horton are among the first new members of Harbaugh’s staff to be confirmed. The Giants will retain outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and tight ends coach Tim Kelly from last season, although it’s unclear what capacity they’ll serve under Harbaugh.

The most recent staff assemblies saw newly hired Giants head coaches scramble or settle to find assistants. Pat Shurmur wanted to bring Kevin Stefanski with him from Minnesota as his offensive coordinator, but that move was blocked by the Vikings. Joe Judge was paired with Jason Garrett by ownership that was leery of his inexperience as a head coach. And Brian Daboll initially wanted to keep Patrick Graham as his defensive coordinator before he left for the same job with the Raiders.

Unlike those situations, Harbaugh gave the Giants a known commodity that could draw quality interest and has the experience of almost 20 years as a head coach from which to draw.

Newsday's Tom Rock contributed to this story.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.