Why the Giants hired Shane Bowen as defensive coordinator

Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 7, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It took 28 days and at least eight reported interviews before the New York Giants finally landed on Shane Bowen to replace Wink Martindale as their defensive coordinator.

There were no Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel interviews. Those were always unrealistic candidates. Vic Fangio wasn’t even a real possibility as he made the switch from the Miami Dolphins to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants under coach Brian Daboll interviewed primarily younger candidates, many of whom had little to no experience calling plays. Bowen fits in the younger category (he’s 37), but was the anomaly since he had been the Tennessee Titans‘ playcaller dating back to the 2020 season.

This is important, given the Giants’ current situation. The pressure is on Daboll next season to get his program back on track. That is what made the job less attractive to some of the candidates with other options.

But going through growing pains with a first-time playcaller would have been an unnecessary risk for the Giants, a potentially fatal mistake for Daboll’s head-coaching career.

Bowen’s experience is part of what makes him attractive to this particular situation in New York. He has already been through that learning curve. Vrabel, the former head coach with the Titans, even brought in veteran coordinator Jim Schwartz to help Bowen in his formative years as a coordinator. It helped.

Those rookie mistakes are something the Giants couldn’t afford this season. Denard Wilson, whom the Giants interviewed twice and thought highly of throughout the process, had never been a coordinator. In-house candidate Jerome Henderson had never called plays. Bobby Babich, who eventually was promoted in Buffalo, as well as Anthony Campanile, all lacked that experience.

Bowen comes not only with playcalling experience, but with a track record of producing defenses that consistently perform well in the red zone and on third down. The Titans were first in red zone defense this past season. They were in the top 15 each of the past three years.

Tennessee was also sixth, third and 17th in third-down defense in Bowen’s three seasons as coordinator.

These were attractive traits to the Giants. They also liked that Bowen’s defenses have traditionally played a physical brand of football and done a tremendous job of stopping the run. The Titans were ranked first, second and 13th over the past three seasons in run defense.

The Giants struggled stopping the run in each of the past two seasons.

It also helps that Bowen is expected to run a base 3-4 defense, but will adjust his scheme according to the opponent. It’s a very similar approach to what the New England Patriots did during Daboll’s extensive time working under Belichick.

Perhaps most importantly, running a 3-4 scheme allows the Giants to utilize Dexter Lawrence II as a nose tackle who lines up over the center. He became a two-time All Pro when that was his role.

Lawrence signed a massive four-year extension for $90 million last spring. It’s smart for the Giants to build around their most dominant defensive player.

“It sucks learning a new scheme, if that is what happens,” Lawrence said after the season. “So that probably would be the most heartbreaking thing, honestly.”

Now, there is still little doubt that the Giants’ defense will look different. It will be nowhere near as aggressive.

Bowen’s defenses in Tennessee can be described as bend-but-don’t-break. They weren’t very good against the pass but stiffened near the red zone. Tennessee allowed first downs on 70.5% of opponents’ drives, ranking 26th.

It’s a stark contrast to what the Giants had the past two seasons with Martindale. His defenses were much more aggressive and finished in the top seven in the league in three-and-outs. Martindale blitzed on 44.1% of dropbacks, which ranked second last season. Bowen blitzed on 22.3% of dropbacks (20th).

It still wouldn’t be surprising to see some similarities in the Giants’ defense under Bowen. He may be a younger, less aggressive playcaller than Martindale, but both were at different times understudies of Dean Pees.

Vrabel, meanwhile, has that connection to Daboll from their time together in New England. And Vrabel has been a big fan of Bowen.

“He’s brought me up through the profession in some regard,” Bowen said last year. “I appreciate his confidence in me.”

Put it all together and that is how the Giants landed on Bowen as their new defensive coordinator.