Source: Giants request permission to interview Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, left, speaks to head coach Bill Belichick before game against the Panthers, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Foxborough, Mass. Credit: AP / Charles Krupa
The Giants aren’t in the playoffs, but their next head coach probably is.
On Monday, the Giants requested permission to interview three candidates for their open position of head coach, all of them busily preparing their teams for postseason action while simultaneously brushing up their resumes for a shot at the big chair.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are among the first targets for the Giants, a source told Newsday. Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks also has been approached by the Giants, as he confirmed in a news conference Monday.
All three are in high demand and with timing issues regarding potential interviews. McDaniels and Patricia are allowed to meet with the Giants this week because the Pats have a bye. Wilks must wait until next week, when Carolina is eliminated or he is eligible to interview under league rules.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz (another coach from a team with a playoff bye this week) reportedly will be considered. The Giants also have promised to interview interim head coach Steve Spag nuolo at some point.
Eric Studesville, who was fired as running backs coach of the Broncos on Monday, also will be interviewed by the Giants. Studesville was the running backs coach for the Giants from 2001-03.
Shepard: Team not together
New GM Dave Gettleman said he wants to change the Giants’ culture. wide receiver Sterling Shepard agrees. “I feel like we had a lot of off-the-field stuff going on that didn’t need to be there and it created some kind of, I don’t know, it just wasn’t a together team like it was [in 2016],” he said. “I feel like we have to get back to that if we want to be a team that is going to compete for a championship.”
Giant steps
Free agent Justin Pugh missed eight games with a back injury but said he’s been told it will heal quickly. “I’ll be good to go in a month,’’ he said. The offensive lineman is looking forward to choosing where he’ll play. His top criteria? “I want to win,” he said. “I want to win now.” . . . Wide receiver Roger Lewis Jr. will have surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle on Tuesday . . . Spagnuolo said he was relieved to get at least one victory out of the four games in which he served as interim head coach. “I would have felt very empty if we had gone through this month and not been able to come away with a win,” he said.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
