Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The New York Giants are headed into a potentially turbulent offseason and these are their biggest needs — yes, including a QB decision.
The New York Giants finished 6-11 on the season and failed to follow up on their 2022 playoff performance leaving behind questions of whether or not they are headed in the right direction.
The Giants had breakdowns and failures in just about every unit and now must seriously evaluate what needs to be addressed and in what order.
Here are the Giants’ five biggest needs heading into the offseason.
The New York Giants are on the hunt for a new special teams coordinator and these are 8 potential candidates they could consider.
The New York Giants are in need of a new special teams coordinator after firing long-time assistant Thomas McGaughey on Monday.
Here are eight quick names the team might look at.
Note: Some of these candidates may currently be employed with other teams and would require termination (or resignation) before joining the Giants.
The New York Giants have fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey and offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.
Black Monday has arrived in the NFL and it has already impacted the New York Giants.
Head coach Brian Daboll says the team has fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey after the unit’s poor showing in 2023.
In addition to McGaughey, Daboll says that the Giants have also fired offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.
“We moved on from Bobby Johnson and from Thomas McGaughey,” Daboll told reporters. “I want to thank those guys for what they’ve done the last two years. This is the hard part of the job. I have a lot of respect for them but just felt we were going to move in a different direction.
“I’m not going to add anything to it. Those were private conversations. But I do respect both of those guys and what they’ve done the last two years — their commitment to the deal and their work ethic. But wanted to make a change.”
The Giants’ offensive line surrendered 85 sacks this season, which was the second-most in NFL history. All three of the team’s quarterbacks suffered an injury at some point due to the porous line, including Daniel Jones, who was lost for the season due to a torn ACL.
Although both firings were expected, moving on from McGaughey will be felt by his players.
“He doesn’t get enough credit,” kicker Graham Gano told the New York Daily News.
“T-Mac is incredible,” long snapper Casey Kreiter added.
For now, those are the only two firings announced by the Giants and the only two that are expected for the time being.
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Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey isn’t worried about his New York Giants future and won’t think about it until after Sunday.
New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey spoke with the media on Thursday ahead of the Giants’ game hosting the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend.
McGaughey’s group was up and down this season, prompting the coordinator to admit it was a “tough” year, which ultimately led to questions about his future in New York.
When asked if he’d had any conversations with the organization about his future and if he expected to be back, McGaughey replied in typical fashion.
“I mean, I always expect to be back. I’ve got a year on my contract,” he said. “I’ll cross that road when I get there. Whatever happens, happens. That’s the NFL. I don’t worry about it. Never have, never will. But that’s just part of the process being in the NFL.”
McGaughey was later asked if he expected any changes to the coaching staff in general, and his response from blunt.
“I mean, that doesn’t have anything to do with me,” he said. “Coaching changes, the people who make the changes will make the changes without what I think about it, or what I think might happen is irrelevant. My job is just to focus on trying to beat Philly this week and get our guys playing as hard as they can possibly play for 60 minutes on Sunday. And then at 7:28, or whenever the game is over with, worry about all that stuff then. But until then, I’m not worried about it.”
The season isn’t over yet, there’s still one more game to play and none of the coaching staff wants to talk about their future. And why would they? This season was nowhere near the season anyone expected. Everyone is disappointed and frustrated.
While McGaughey says he expects to be here one more year, no one really knows what’s going to happen in the offseason. There’s a lot of problem-solving to be done this spring before the draft, adjustments, and personnel decisions to be made. But what the coaches want to focus on this week isn’t the offseason, it’s facing Philly and ending the season on a high note.
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The New York Giants have been ravaged by injuries this season, including at kicker and punter, which has become problematic.
The New York Giants’ special teams have always been respectable under coordinator Thomas McGaughey.
This season, which has been one of tumult and turmoil for the Giants, the ‘teams’ as they call them, have fallen victim to the same woes that plagued the rest of the team.
Injuries among the ranks leave little for the teams to choose from come game days. The Giants lost star kicker Graham Gano to a knee injury and punter Jamie Gillan has played through groin and knee ailments of his own. The return and coverage games have suffered from a rotating personnel as well.
McGaughey spoke about Gillan’s physical status on Thursday.
“Any time that you have to deal with those things, you just got to be smart, and communication is key,” McGaughey said. “So, we talked every day about how he was feeling and we just kind of, just went from there. You always got to be — at this time of year, you are in the back end of the season, got a lot of reps in that leg, you just got to be smart. He’s getting a little tender, so we are just trying to handle it the best way we both saw it fit and the training staff.”
The Giants have tried several kickers since Gano was placed on IR in early November, the latest being former Green Bay Packers standout Mason Crosby.
Crosby had some obvious rust in his first game last week in Philadelphia. His kickoffs were not reaching the end zone.
“It’s the first time he’s kicked off in a while,” said McGaughey. “Going in certain directions, it might not look like it, but going in certain directions, the wind was blowing a little bit. So, is Mason Crosby 23 years old? No, he’s not. He’s 38 years old, whatever it is. He’s in his 17th year in the league. That’s just what it is.
“I’m sure (quarterback) John Elway when he was 23 could throw it further than when he was 40. It’s just over time, you lose power. You lose some of that stuff. But he’s still definitely serviceable and he did a really good job for us Sunday.”
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The New York Giants have placed kicker Cade York (quad) on injured reserve (IR) and signed veteran kicker Mason Crosby.
The New York Giants were expected to turn to Cade York as their starting kicker after Randy Bullock was placed on season-ending injured reserve (IR) earlier this week, but that’s not going to happen.
On Friday, York was also placed on IR with a quad injury, becoming the third Giants kicker lost for the season (Bullock, Graham Gano).
“It’s a lot,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said on Wednesday prior to York’s injury. “But I told you this early in the season, I said you don’t want to get on the kicker train, because the destination is unknown. Because you don’t know. Once that train gets rolling, you never know where it’s going to end. But it is what it is, we’ll make the adjustments, we won’t make any excuses, just keep it moving.”
With no kickers remaining in tow, the Giants were forced to go out and sign one.
10 days after he was released by the Los Angeles Rams, the Giants have added a familiar foe in veteran Mason Crosby.
The 39-year-old Crosby, who was the NFL’s leading scorer as a rookie, was a sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2007 NFL draft. He spent his entire career with the organization prior to the aforementioned stint with the Rams.
In 258 career games, Crosby has connected on 395 of his 485 field goal attempts (81.4%) and 733 of his 753 point-after attempts (97.3).
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Thomas McGaughey isn’t particularly thrilled that the New York Giants will be on their fourth different kicker in Week 16.
The New York Giants have been ravaged by injury this season and no position group has managed to avoid the nightmare, including the team’s kickers.
Back in early November, the Giants lost veteran Graham Gano to a knee injury. He was replaced by Randy Bullock, who also landed on injured reserve (IR) this week as the result of a hamstring issue.
Bullock was forced to leave a Week 15 game against the New Orleans Saints and was replaced by punter Jamie Gillan, who also endured an injury in that contest.
With two kickers on IR and their punter ailing, the Giants are expected to elevate Cade York from their practice squad on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia Eagles. He will technically become their fourth kicker of the season.
“It’s a lot,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said on Wednesday. “But I told you this early in the season, I said you don’t want to get on the kicker train, because the destination is unknown. Because you don’t know. Once that train gets rolling, you never know where it’s going to end. But it is what it is, we’ll make the adjustments, we won’t make any excuses, just keep it moving.”
The 22-year-old York was originally on the Giants’ 53-man roster but they opted to elevate and start Bullock instead. Once his elevations ran out, the team waived York and signed Bullock to the active roster before adding York back to the practice squad.
McGaughey had a hunch they might need to go back to York, so they’ve continued working with him.
“He’s getting better. He’s working at it,” McGaughey said of York. “Young specialists are always a work in progress, so those guys are always trying to find a routine, trying to tweak certain things and just work on those small details of what he’s doing. Being around Randy and Graham has been huge for him.
“It’s almost unheard of. Even during the offseason, this rarely happens. But he’s been taking advantage of it. And I told him, this is a godsend for you to be able to be around two veteran kickers that have had double-digit years that have both started over 150 games, played in 150 games, in the same building as you at the same time. That’s big for him.”
York started 17 games for the Cleveland Browns last season but was inconsistent. He made just 75 percent of his field goal attempts and missed two point after attempts. Now he’ll have to lace up his cleats and start for the Giants on Christmas Day in Philadelphia, where it will be cold and windy. And very loud.
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New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey praises CB Darnay Holmes for being one of the hardest workers on the team.
The New York Giants’ special teams has taken a huge step back this season and the pressure is on coordinator Thomas McGaughey to make lemonade out of the lemons he’s been left with.
The massive injury spate that has plagued the Giants this year has caused them to employ a slew of newer and inexperienced players on both offense and defense, which means on game day the special teams will be filled with players who haven’t played alongside one another for very long.
There have been some constants, however. The Giants’ coverage teams have been fairly solid despite the revolving door of players and the absence of veteran kicker Graham Gano.
Carter Coughlin and Cam Brown, two fourth-year linebackers, lead the team with seven special teams tackles apiece. Defensive backs Nick McCloud and Darnay Holmes are tied for second with six stops.
Holmes is also a contributor on defense in many sub packages. He is in the final year of his rookie contract but is making his mark as a versatile player with his play as the team’s gunner.
“Darnay has worked his tail off. Darnay is always one of the hardest working guys that we have and it’s starting to pay off for him,” McGaughey told reporters this week.
“When you look at our tackle chart, it’s Nick (McCloud), Darnay, Cam (Brown), Carter (Coughlin) and I think all of them have like seven tackles a piece, so all those guys are doing a really good job and Darnay, in particular, has really worked his tail off and he’s got a little momentum. The more plays you make, the more confidence you get, you go make more plays and he made a heck of a play the other night, so he’s getting better for sure.”
Since the Giants have beefed up their secondary in the past years, Holmes has seen his defensive snaps diminish. It was suggested that he is concentrating more on his special teams role these days as a result, that’s why’s flourishing.
“That’s part of it, definitely because he definitely stays after practice, he works on his angles to the ball and as guys are catching punts, he’ll work on different things but that happens,” McGaughey said. “I can remember 15 years ago when Corey Webster, there was a stretch in there during the season where he was a healthy scratch for like four weeks and then all of the sudden he starts playing gunner on the punt team and made a couple plays and it all kind of translated back over to defense and we ended up giving him like 20 million at the end of the year, so I mean it happens.
“That’s just part of guys’ maturation process and everybody is different. And Darnay has done a good job of being diligent and then taking advantage of the opportunities that he’s gotten.”
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New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey says long snapper Casey Kreiter is the glue that holds the unit together.
New York Giants long-snapper Casey Kreiter is somewhat of a forgotten man. If he doesn’t make a mistake, he’s generally an afterthought to those in the media and the fans in the stands.
Inside of the building at 1925 Giants Drive, it’s a different story, however.
While meeting with reporters earlier this week, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey heaped praise upon Kreiter and had to stop himself from carrying on for an extended period of time.
“Casey’s the glue. He is, he’s the glue to our special teams unit. He is the quarterback of our punt team,” McGaughey told reporters this week. “I couldn’t sit here and tell you how much he means to our special teams unit. He’s a great leader, he’s insightful, he thinks like a coach on the field, he’s a real leader in our room, he gets the guys together every week.
“He does his own scouting report, writes it on the board, they come in, they watch it, they talk about it, each unit as a whole, and I couldn’t begin to explain to you how much he means to us as a special teams group.”
Kreiter essentially serves as an extra assistant coach in addition to a player on the field. That will likely position him well when the time comes to hang up his cleats, as he’ll ultimately be afforded similar opportunities to another former Giant, Chase Blackburn.
Unfortunately for Kreiter, there isn’t much gloating to be done here in 2023. Through no fault of his own, the Giants’ special teams unit is among the worst in football.
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New York Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey couldn’t help but laugh when asked about the NFL’s fine of Carter Coughlin.
New York Giants linebacker Carter Coughlin laid the boom on New England Patriots return man Ty Montgomery in Week 12.
Carter absolutely lit Montgomery up with a textbook tackle that drew the celebration of his teammates. It also caught the eye of the Giants’ video and social media teams, who also praised the 26-year-old for a hit-stick tackle.
The NFL fined Giants special teamer Carter Coughlin $5,764 for this hit on which he was not flagged pic.twitter.com/QnOpKG0UjV
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) December 2, 2023
Coughlin was not flagged for the hit, which was the correct call by the game officials. However, the NFL didn’t agree and the league office sent a little FedEx package to Coughlin that included a $5,764 fine for unnecessary roughness.
Okay then.
The fine, which Coughlin has appealed, was so egregious that special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey couldn’t help but laugh when asked about it on Friday.
“No,” McGaughey laughed when asked if he had an explanation for the fine. “I mean, we all see the tape, we’ve all seen it. It is what it is, and you know, yeah. It is what it is. It’s amazing.”
McGaughey’s laugh was more out of frustration than any sort of comedic value. Coughlin did absolutely nothing wrong and the fine is the latest example of the NFL going completely overboard.
So, how can the Giants avoid this issue in the future? Should McGaughey teach his players to avoid that level of contact?
“That’s a slippery slope we go down. I mean — it’s a slippery slope,” McGaughey said. “You look at the tape, looks like it’s a textbook tackle, guy gets fined, it’s a slippery slope.”
It’s not just a slippery slope, it’s a joke. The NFL is making a mockery of itself with some of these fines and Coughlin’s might be the most ridiculous yet.
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