Even though Giants ownership decided to retain head coach Brian Daboll, it was going to be highly unlikely that Daboll would run it back in 2025 with his entire coaching staff. Coming off a 3-14 season, changes were going to be enacted.
The first moves came on Wednesday, when Daboll fired defensive backs coach/defensive game coordinator Jerome Henderson and safeties coach Michael Treier, The Post confirmed.
Henderson and Treier were both holdovers from previous defensive coordinators and when Shane Bowen was brought in last year after the Wink Martindale meltdown, Bowen retained most of Martindale’s staff. Now, Bowen’s staff will undergo a makeover.
Henderson a year ago interviewed for the defensive coordinator position that went to Bowen and then was promoted to the pᴀssing game coordinator role. He was considered to be a popular and productive ᴀssistant but the results this past season were not there with cornerback Deonte Banks, the 2023 first-round pick. Banks struggled with lapses in effort and Henderson called him out on it – something Daboll never did.
Henderson, 55, played defensive back in the NFL and came to the Giants in 2020 as part of Joe Judge’s staff. Treier had been with the Giants for five years.
Following the season, co-owner John Mara was critical of several aspects of the 2024 Giants and sounded especially frustrated with the defense, saying “I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all” and “I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us.”
Some took that to mean Bowen’s job security was tenuous but that is not the case.
Many Giants players struggled to adapt to Bowen’s defensive approach, which was a departure to Martindale’s blitz-heavy, more aggressive scheme. Cornerbacks who grew accustomed to playing man coverage for Martindale had to adjust to playing more zone under Bowen.
The Giants allowed 210.6 pᴀssing yards per game, the eighth-lowest total in the NFL, but much of that was opponents focusing on running against the Giants; their run defense was 27th in the league.
