Safeties coach Mike Treier also let go
The New York Giants have fired defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson and safeties coach Mike Treier, per NFL insider Mike Garafolo.
Henderson had been with the Giants since 2020 when he was initially hired by Joe Judge. He is a former NFL player and has been a defensive backs coach in the NFL since 2007.
Henderson, 55, has been a highly-respected coach. Former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who ran a much different system than current coordinator Shane Bowen, often called Henderson the best defensive backs coach in the league. When Brian Daboll was hired, Henderson was the first assistant coach Daboll decided to keep from Judge’s staff.
Henderson interviewed for the Giants’ defensive coordinator job after Martindale left last offseason. The job, of course, went to Bowen.
There were issues in the secondary this past season. None were bigger than the stalled development and effort concerns around cornerback Deonte Banks, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2023.
Henderson publicly called Banks out after his lack of effort in a game vs. the Dallas Cowboys. He also admitted that he had vouched for Banks in the buildup to the 2023 NFL Draft, wanted the team to draft the player, and that his failings reflected on him as a coach.
Giants’ defensive backs went 11 consecutive games this season without getting an interception. Second-round pick Tyler Nubin, a safety, had none in 13 games this season after getting 13 interceptions in five games during his college career at Minnesota.
Treier had also been with the Giants since 2020. He was hired as a defensive quality control coach, moved up to assistant defensive backs coach, and became safeties coach in 2023.
These moves are perhaps another indication that Bowen will remain as defensive coordinator, and that the Giants could lean into finding players and coaches more in tune with the scheme Bowen wants to run.