Marc Colombo knows a few things about playing offensive line in the National Football League. He was a first round selection of the Chicago Bears in the 2002 NFL Draft (29th overall) out of Boston College who played 10 years in the league.
The 6-foot-8, 315-pound Colombo went on to be a favorite of Bill Parcells in both Dallas and Miami as a player before becoming an offensive line coach under Jason Garrett in Dallas in 2016.
Garrett is now the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator and has brought Colombo to New Jersey to coach Big Blue’s newly reformed line.
Colombo is well respected around the league and the Giants hope he will raise the culture in the building where new head coach Joe Judge is hellbent on turning things around. Cam Fleming, who the Giants signed as a free agent this spring, played for Columbo in Dallas last season.
“He really does love what he does,” Fleming told the New York Post. “He comes in with so much energy, so much juice every single day, week after week, throughout the whole season. I don’t think there is ever a lull in it for him. He’s just a damn good coach.”
Colombo is also an imposing figure whose physical presence and demeanor will command respect from the players almost immediately. Two former Giant offensive greats, Chris Snee and Shaun O’Hara, both have stories of their encounters with Columbo in the past.
Colombo preceded Snee at Boston College and Snee admitted that Columbo “scared the [expletive] out of him.” Snee has no doubts the Giants’ line will thrive under the former Eagles alum.
“The fact he’s played at a high level and guys, once they hear his message and how he delivers it, I think they’ll buy in right away and they’ll respect that,” Snee said. “That respect will happen right away. He’ll demand that respect and he’ll get it. I do expect this group to get much better. There’s so many coaches and so many guys trying to change the way the game is played, as far as the offensive line goes. But to me, you can’t replace physicality, that requirement. That will be demanded by Marc and he’ll get it.”
“He’s a tough son of a gun,” O’Hara said. “He’s got the Boston accent, he’s got his gruffness, it’s a good fit from a culture standpoint, from a philosophy standpoint, and he’ll be good with those guys.”
