The New York Giants announced on Monday that they fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen after the team failed to protect yet another lead in Sunday’s 34-27 loss to the Detroit Lions. Bowen has been replaced by OLB coach Charlie Bullen.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero first reported Bowen would be fired, and NFL insider Josina Anderson first noted Bullen would be the interim defensive coordinator.
Bullen is in his second year with the Giants. He started his coaching career as a student assistant at Iowa in 2007 and earned his first NFL gig in 2012 as a defensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Bullen’s resume includes other stops with the Arizona Cardinals and Illinois, where he had been the outside linebackers coach and pass-rushing coordinator for one year before heading to the Big Apple.
Ahead of the season, outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux praised Bullen’s attention to detail.
“Charlie Bullen has been a great asset to me and the rest of the guys in the room, and continuing to kind of grow — not just my ability on the field, but know what weight I want to play at, know what size, know what side of the ball I like and just figuring out what works for me and kind of just honing in on it, using that as my strength,” Thibodeaux said in August. “… I don’t think it’s necessarily a certain technique, but I think it’s the consistency of greatness. It’s understanding that, ‘Yeah, you know it, but let’s just go over it three more times.’ I think it’s that 10,000-hour mindset.”
Now, Bullen will need to bring that consistency to the defense.
New York was up 10 points midway through the fourth quarter Sunday before the Lions forced overtime on Jake Bates’ 59-yard field goal.
▶️ Full Giants-Lions Recap
This has been a regular feature of the Giants’ season.
Beyond the defense’s propensity to unravel late in games, the unit simply hasn’t been good. New York is allowing the third-most yards (385.0) and points (27.8) in the NFL.
On a more granular level, Abdul Carter was considered one of the most can’t-miss players from the 2025 draft class, and he has yet to register a full sack through 12 appearances. Dexter Lawrence’s streak of three straight Pro Bowl nods is likely coming to an end as well considering he has 0.5 sacks and two tackles for loss.
Bowen’s dismissal was probably inevitable the moment head coach Brian Daboll was fired. A permanent replacement, be it interim coach Mike Kafka or an outside hire, will presumably want to have a say over his offensive and defensive coordinators.
In terms of eventual replacements for Bowen, the Giants may start by looking inside the NFC East.
Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Christian Parker is quickly ascending and has interviewed multiple times for defensive coordinator gigs.
“We just knew from the jump,” said Mike Pettine, who hired Parker as an assistant for the Green Bay Packers in 2019, in an interview with The Athletic’s Zach Berman. “The thing that’s always struck me with Christian is just how mature he is, beyond his years. You come to realize in coaching, there’s got to be kind of an ‘it’ factor with coaches, someone that has a presence, that he’s well respected. And it’s easy for me to see why he has progressed so quickly and has gained a reputation that he’s gained in a short amount of time he’s been in the league.”
Maybe this is the hiring cycle when Parker is prepared to leave Philly for a promotion elsewhere.
The same goes for Jim Leonhard, an assistant head coach and defensive passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos have had a top-10 defense in both yards and points the last two years, which is putting defensive coordinator Vance Joseph back on the radar for head-coaching vacancies. Leonhard’s work in making Denver an elite defensive team isn’t going unnoticed, either.
The Giants could go in a much different direction and opt for a recently fired head coach with DC experience, much like how the Dallas Cowboys brought Matt Eberflus aboard to work under Brian Schottenheimer.
The Arizona Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon would fall under that category if he’s out of a job. Perhaps this would be the path for Jerod Mayo to rebuild his stock after his abrupt dismissal from the New England Patriots last spring.
