The Giants may not officially have a head coach yet, but other positions on the staff are starting to fall into place. In the past two days various reports have linked Jack Del Rio to the defensive coordinator job and Thomas McGaughey as the special-teams coordinator.
None of those appointments will be finalized until the Giants fill the big office first. That job is still expected to go to Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, whose team played in Sunday night's NFC Championship Game against the Eagles. The Giants are not allowed to offer Shurmur the job until the Vikings' season ends.
Del Rio was most recently the coach of the Raiders. ESPN reported on Sunday that he is the favorite to take over the Giants' defense that had been run by Steve Spagnuolo for the past three seasons. His work with 4-3 schemes and man-to-man defenses would seem to fit in well with the Giants' current personnel.
McGaughey was the Giants' assistant special-teams coordinator from 2007-10 and served as the Panthers' special-teams coordinator for the past two seasons. If he gets the Giants' job he'll replace Tom Quinn, who had held the role since 2007. The Charlotte Observer first reported the link between McGaughey and the Giants.
