Freddie Kitchens to join Giants’ coaching staff

Joe Judge is filling out his coaching staff with the New York Giants, and he is adding some familiar names, including Freddie Kitchens.

AL.com’s Matt Zenitz reported on Tuesday that Kitchens is expected to be part of Judge’s staff on the Giants.

Sources: Freddie Kitchens is expected to be part of Joe Judge's staff with the New York Giants.

Unclear what his role will be.

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 21, 2020

Kitchens was fired after going 6-10 in his lone season as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. The step up to head coach was a massive leap for Kitchens, who had only been a position coach in the NFL until 2017 and was only promoted to offensive coordinator after Todd Haley and Hue Jackson were fired in 2018. He was overmatched as head coach but may be back to a more comfortable assistant-type role now (Jason Garrett will be their offensive coordinator).

In addition to Kitchens, the Giants are hiring Jody Wright.

Can confirm that former Alabama and UAB staffer Jody Wright is expected to be hired by the New York Giants.

First reported by @BruceFeldmanCFB.

Worked for the Cleveland Browns this season.

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 21, 2020

Bret Bielema is another coach who will be on Judge’s staff, as that news was also reported on Tuesday.

Garrett will be the Giants’ offensive coordinator and Patrick Graham their defensive coordinator. Other roles on the staff are unclear.

Jason Witten could have interest in joining Giants?

Could we see Jason Witten play in the NFL for a team other than the Dallas Cowboys?

The veteran tight end has not ruled out playing in 2020, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN. However, Witten’s role in new Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s offense may be nonexistent, meaning he might have to look elsewhere if he wants to keep playing.

Mortensen suggests that one possible landing spot for Witten could be New York. The Giants just named Jason Garrett offensive coordinator, and Mortensen left the door open to the possibility that Garrett might bring his longtime tight end with him.

Witten could bring a veteran presence to a young locker room like @Giants, familiarity with Garrett's offense and a support role to some promising young tight ends. That said, nothing close to being settled on future. https://t.co/4O9sotZFlJ

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2020

Witten’s on-field contributions are more limited these days. He caught only 63 passes in 2019, and his 529 receiving yards were his lowest total since his rookie season. He still contributed four touchdowns.

Evan Engram would still get the lion’s share of work at the tight end position, but there may be some feeling that Witten could be a valuable mentor in Garrett’s offense. Of course, the 37-year-old will want to be more than a mentor, too.

Giants owner wants Eli Manning to remain with organization in 2020

Eli Manning has basically said he has no interest in returning to the New York Giants as a player next season, but the door is open for him to remain with the organization in another role.

Giants owner John Mara said during an appearance on WFAN’s “Moose & Maggie” show this week that he recently sat down with Manning, and the 39-year-old has not yet made any decisions about his future. While Mara is open to having the veteran quarterback return to the team as a player, Manning said recently that he does not want to back up Daniel Jones. However, Mara is also interested in the two-time Super Bowl champion potentially moving to another role within the organization.

“I’ve mentioned to him the possibility of thinking about other roles in the organization, and he’s just undecided right now,” Mara said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. “The season just ended recently, and he needs to take some more time and think about it. And I told him there’s no time limit on that. We’ll talk whenever he’s ready to sit down and talk again.”

It’s unclear what role Mara has in mind. Manning could take on some job with the football operations department if he wants to be more involved, or the Giants could simply make him an “ambassador” of some sort just to keep up appearances. If Manning wants to keep playing, however, he will likely pursue a starting job elsewhere.

Manning looks like he established a nice relationship with Jones, especially when you see the way the two partied together after a game. But Manning has made a ton of money in his career, and there’s no need for him to collect another paycheck while sitting on the bench.

Report: Bret Bielema could be candidate for Giants defensive coordinator

We’re still waiting for the New York Giants to announce the hiring of coach Joe Judge, and there’s still a good deal of uncertainty about the staff he will build.

One well-known name, however, appears to be in the mix in New York. According to Jordan Ranaan of ESPN, former Arkansas coach and current New England Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema will be a candidate for defensive coordinator.

Joe Judge’s staff with the Giants remains somewhat of a mystery while he finalizes his deal, which should happen soon. But expect Patriots D-line coach Bret Bielema to be in the mix for defensive coordinator. #Giants #Patriots

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 8, 2020

Bielema has plenty of experience, much of it in college. He served as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator for two seasons before becoming their head coach, and has worked under Bill Belichick on the defensive side of things for the last two seasons. Judge, the Patriots’ special teams coach, would have become familiar with Bielema’s approach there.

New York fans are notoriously tough. If this comes to pass, hopefully Bielema will make a better impression on them than he did to Arkansas fans.

Report: Jason Garrett not a candidate for Giants OC job

Contrary to earlier reports, outgoing Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is not a candidate for the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator position at this time.

Ralph Vacchiano of SNY reported that the Giants made a request to interview Garrett for their head coaching position before Joe Judge was hired, and Judge will have the opportunity to pick the staff he wants. Vacchiano added that the decision to hire Judge came quickly after Matt Rhule accepted the Carolina job, by which point the request to speak to Garrett had already been made.

A clarification from earlier: The Giants have NOT requested permission to speak to Jason Garrett about their offensive coordinator job, per a source. Their request was for their head coaching job, obviously before they decided to hire Joe Judge.

Judge will get to pick his staff.

— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) January 7, 2020

Details are still coming out, but my understanding is they didn't settle on Judge until Rhule called them last night about the Carolina offer, and by then they had already asked permission to talk to Garrett.

— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) January 7, 2020

The timeline is a bit strange here. It certainly sounds like the Giants still had hopes of landing Rhule, but he preferred Carolina, and the Giants did not want to match those finances. Instead of waiting for Garrett, they clearly decided not to risk it and gave Judge the job. Garrett may ultimately land a coordinator job this hiring cycle, but unless Judge wants him, it won’t be in New York.

Report: Giants interested in Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator

The New York Giants are still interested in hiring former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, but it is not for the position many initially thought.

A report on Tuesday morning claimed the Giants have requested permission from the Cowboys to interview Garrett, which would be required since he is still technically under contract in Dallas through next week. That was before word surfaced that the Giants have hired former New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge to be their next head coach, so where does that leave Garrett?

According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, the Giants are interested in Garrett as an offensive coordinator. They feel he could help develop quarterback Daniel Jones while also sharing valuable experience with a 38-year-old head coach.

Source: #Giants requested permission from #Cowboys to interview Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator under new HC Joe Judge. Garrett’s 10 years of head coaching experience would be important asset to inexperienced HC. Also Garrett could develop Daniel Jones if interested.

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 7, 2020

If Garrett wants to coach in the NFL next season, it may have to be as a coordinator. The only remaining head coaching vacancy is with the Cleveland Browns, and he has not been mentioned as a candidate for that job.

The Giants were supposedly very interested in hiring Garrett as their head coach back in 2014, but a lot has changed since then. However, if Garrett decides he wants to stick around in the NFC East and have a chance to go against the Cowboys twice a year, he may have an opportunity to do so with his former rival.

Giants hire Joe Judge as head coach, reportedly chose him over Matt Rhule

The New York Giants have reached an agreement to make former New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge their new head coach, and he may have been their first choice after they conducted interviews.

Judge reached a deal with the Giants on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. The news broke not long after the Carolina Panthers hired Matt Rhule, who was believed to be a top target for New York. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was told the Giants were given an opportunity to pry Rhule away from Carolina but chose Judge instead.

One note on the #Giants: Matt Rhule called them before signing his 6-year deal with the #Panthers and gave them the opportunity to match and lure him to get on the plane. They declined and hired Joe Judge instead.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2020

Judge also had an offer to become the head coach at Mississippi State, where he played college ball. However, he is choosing to remain in the NFL. The 38-year-old has worked under Bill Belichick for the past nine seasons and was an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama prior to that.

Giants fans will question why the team would hire a head coach without previous NFL head coaching experience , but they obviously respect Judge’s body of work. While there was a report that they were planning to interview a much bigger name for the position, they must be confident in Judge if they turned down the opportunity to match Carolina’s offer to Rhule.