Giants Fire Fewell, Speculation Begins about Spagnuolo Return

A week ago it looked like defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was safe in his spot with the New York Giants. Just goes to show you how much can change in a week. Fewell, along with secondary coach Peter Giunta, was fired by the Giants after the club ranked 29th in total defense this year.

It has been a long time coming as the Giants defense has been lagging for far too long. The unit was ranked 31st two years ago, and as high as 8th in 2013. This season was marred by inconsistent play and injuries. Fewell's inability to work with the pieces he was dealt and adjust spelled the end of his tenure in New York.

In a year where the Giants will have to win or else, firing Fewell makes a lot of sense. Now the question will be who will replace him?  The hot name that will surface right away is Steve Spagnuolo, the former Giants defensive coordinator from 2007-08, who is currently with the Ravens as its assistant head coach and secondary coach. If the Giants want to speak to Spagnuolo, or even hire him, they will have to wait until the Ravens season is over. Currently Baltimore is in the playoffs.

If Spagnuolo does not return to Big Blue, the Giants could look to either Jim Schwartz, currently the Bills defensive coordinator. The Bills haven't given anyone permission to speak to Schwartz. Perhaps the Bills view him as a replacement for Doug Marrone as head coach. Or, they could tap long time defensive wiz Bob Sutton. Apparently Sutton and Tom Coughlin go back a long way to the days they were assistants at Syracuse. Sutton, who is currently the Chiefs defensive coordinator, is no stranger to the Big Apple, having coached with the Jets for 13 years.

Either way the Giants can not go wrong. They are going to make this a thorough search, since they must come away with a quality candidate to get this defense back to high expectations.