The New York Giants filled one of their coaching vacancies on Wednesday morning, hiring their next defensive backs coach after firing Jerome Henderson the week prior. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Giants are hiring former New York Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel as their next defensive backs coach.
Giants reportedly hire former Jets assistant Marquand Manuel as next DBs coach
Manuel spent the last three seasons with the New York Jets as their safeties coach. He has been coaching at the NFL level since 2012, starting out as an assistant with the Seattle Seahawks and eventually working his way up to the position of defensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons, which he held for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
During his time in Seattle, Manuel helped coach one of the NFL’s greatest defensive units and secondaries of all time. He was a defensive assistant for the infamous Legion of Boom Seahawks in 2013 when they won Super Bowl XLVIII and was then promoted to assistant secondary coach for the 2014 season as Seattle returned to (but ultimately lost) the Super Bowl.
From 2021 to 2024, Manuel was the Jets’ safeties coach, working with a unit lacking talent, but somehow getting the most out of what he was given. The Jets’ defense ranked fourth in the NFL against the pass in 2024, surrendering only 192.6 passing yards per game. Their pass defense ranked inside the top five in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
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Manuel will be tasked with developing the Giants’ young secondary
The Giants failed to develop their young defensive backs under Henderson over the last couple of seasons. Former 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks regressed significantly in 2024 despite being penciled in as the team’s No. 1 cornerback at the start of the season. The Giants will hope that hiring Manuel sparks growth and development in Banks and the rest of their young pieces in the secondary.