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Fewll Hired as Defensive Coordinator


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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4825410

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Buffalo Bills interim coach Perry Fewell has been hired as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator.

 

Coach Tom Coughlin announced the move late Thursday evening after Fewell spent the past few days weighing offers from the Giants and the Chicago Bears.

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Fewell also interviewed for the vacant Bills coaching job but he has said for a while that he felt he was a long shot for that position.

 

Giants rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan was fired the day after the regular season ended. The Giants gave up more than 40 points in each of their last two games and 427 points for the season, ranking third from the bottom in the NFL. Only the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams gave up more.

 

Fewell and Coughlin have known each other for years.

 

Fewell spent five seasons as Coughlin's secondary coach in Jacksonville. He spent the last four as the Bills' defensive coordinator and was made their interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2009 season after Dick Jauron was fired. The Bills went 3-4.

 

"I expect Perry to bring the same qualities that I expect from myself," Coughlin said. "I want him to be firm, fair, honest and demanding. My expectation is that he will solidify and unify our defense and be an outstanding teacher. I want energy, enthusiasm, toughness and to make the necessary corrections and game adjustments. Perry is a teacher and a leader and I thought he did an outstanding job of displaying great leadership as the interim head coach of Buffalo this season."

 

The Giants and the Bills both use a 4-3 defensive scheme.

 

Both teams struggled with injuries on defense this season. The Giants lost safety Kenny Phillips (knee), middle linebacker Antonio Pierce (neck) and tackle Jay Alford for the season and had cornerbacks Aaron Ross and Corey Webster, linebacker Michael Boley and defensive tackle Chris Canty sidelined for significant portions of the season.

 

The Bills had five starters go on injured reserve.

 

"I am ecstatic to come to work for the New York Giants," Fewell said. "It's a good football team with good defensive players, and it is a franchise known for defense."

 

The Bills struggled stopping the run (30th overall), but the defensive backs led the AFC with 28 interceptions and were second in the NFL behind only the Green Bay Packers.

 

Rookie safety Jairus Byrd tied for the NFL lead with nine interceptions.

 

The Bills' defense allowed 14 touchdown passes in each of the last two seasons. The Giants gave up 31 in 2009.

 

The Giants had 24 takeaways and 13 interceptions in 2009.

 

In his four years as coordinator, the Bills' defense ranked 18th, 31st, 14th and 19th in the NFL, and that was with an offense that did not produce much or control the ball.

 

In 2009, Buffalo allowed 340.6 yards and 20.4 points a game. The Giants gave up an average of 324.9 yards and 26.7 points.

 

The year before, the Bills were fourth in the NFL in red-zone defense, allowing a touchdown on only 41.8 percent of possessions inside the 20-yard line.

 

Fewell coached Chicago defensive backs in 2005, when the Bears led the NFC with 24 interceptions and cornerback Nathan Vasher and safety Mike Brown were selected to the Pro Bowl. It's one of the reasons Lovie Smith wanted him back as coordinator.

 

"His defenses have consistently done a good job taking the ball away," Coughlin said.

 

Fewell was the secondary coach of the Rams in 2003-04. He entered the NFL as the defensive backs coach for Coughlin in 1998 and stayed there through 2002. Jacksonville's pass defense ranked third in the NFL in 1999 and two years later the Jaguars gave up only 13 touchdown passes.

 

"We brought Perry into the league in Jacksonville," said Coughlin, "and I was impressed with his thoroughness, his ability to work with the players and his absolute intent on learning all he could about his profession. He was hired as the secondary coach and he has had great experiences in St. Louis and Chicago with Lovie Smith and that system and in Buffalo with Dick Jauron, who was my original defensive coordinator in Jacksonville."

 

Fewell was a college coach for 13 years before coming to the NFL, working at North Carolina, Army, Kent State and Vanderbilt.

 

"I was a young coach, and he helped develop my philosophy of the game, the discipline, the know-how, the toughness that it takes and the attention to detail. Being prepared. That is what he instilled," Fewell said of his time with Coughlin.

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here is an article which may give a little insight into what we can expect from Fewel

 

from http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/giants/fewell_fits_bill_for_jints_KywMDnJwJSidLwOocPGibL

Fewell fits Bill for Giants

Giants Blog

 

By PAUL SCHWARTZ

 

Last Updated: 6:08 AM, January 16, 2010

 

 

Here is a warning for the Giants now that Perry Fewell is running the defense: You do something dumb, watch out.

 

"If you get out there and consistently make mistakes, he's going to blow up," Bills safety George Wilson told The Post. "He doesn't like repetitive mistakes. He doesn't like silly mistakes. Hitting a guy out of bounds and getting a penalty. I saw that happen in one of our games this year -- he just went berserk.

 

"We're battling for field position, the guy was a veteran guy, Drayton Florence, and he should have known better, and Perry just chewed [him] out. Sometimes as players we need that. Perry does a good job of knowing when to get in your face and when to step back and do some positive reinforcement. He does a good job of doing a balancing act."

 

Fewell, 47, brings that act to the Giants after he was hired Thursday as the team's new defensive coordinator, replacing Bill Sheridan, who was fired after one miserable season. As so often is the case in these situations, the newcomer is lauded as being so very different from the coach he replaces.

 

Sheridan was reserved and studious. Fewell -- the defensive coordinator in Buffalo the past four years -- is described as emotional and inspiring, though he calls the game from the quiet of the press box rather than the tumult of the sideline.

 

"He's an upbeat guy. He's a very optimistic guy, doesn't try to find the bad in everything," said Wilson, who completed his fifth year with the Bills. "You can talk to him about football, you can talk to him about life. The guys respect him the in the locker room, and at the end of the day, that's what you have to have as a coach. They will battle for him and lay their bodies on the line for him.

 

"He's definitely a fiery guy that you can tell he has a passion for the game, that he wishes he could get out there and play. He always talks to us, refers back to '79. He may see somebody make a good play and he'll joke around and say, 'Ah, man, I could do that back in '79.' I have a lot of love for Perry."

 

Fewell was a defensive back at Lenoir-Rhyne in North Carolina. He was part of coach Tom Coughlin's staff for five years in Jacksonville; if Coughlin trusts him to run the deteriorated Giants defense you know Fewell's work ethic cannot be questioned.

 

This past November, Fewell received an unexpected promotion when he was named interim head coach following Dick Jauron's firing. The Bills went 3-4 in their last seven games --three of the losses were by seven or fewer points -- and Fewell grew in the job.

 

"He was put into a tough spot, having to step in for his friend, Coach Jauron," Wilson said. "One thing about Perry, from the first time he addressed the team, the first time he stepped before us, he took ownership of the team. He changed the expectations. I think it was a great experience for him. I know the guys in our locker room rallied behind him."

 

Fewell worked with Lovie Smith with the Rams and Bears in the Tampa Two defense that favored zone coverage, but Wilson says Fewell's nature is to scheme aggressively with a single-high safety and plenty of pressure.

 

"He definitely likes to get after the quarterback," Wilson said. "We had a lot of interceptions. We made progress in sacks. He's definitely an aggressive coordinator. He'll try to get a feel for what the offense is trying to do in the first drive of the game, and then he'll make an adjustment. He'll get a feel for the game and he'll start to dial 'em up."

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here is an article which may give a little insight into what we can expect from Fewel

 

from http://www.nypost.co...wJSidLwOocPGibL

 

 

NY POST

 

a couple Excerpt's

 

"If you get out there and consistently make mistakes, he's going to blow up," Bills safety George Wilson told The Post. "He doesn't like repetitive mistakes. He doesn't like silly mistakes. Hitting a guy out of bounds and getting a penalty. I saw that happen in one of our games this year -- he just went berserk."

 

"He definitely likes to get after the quarterback," Wilson said. "We had a lot of interceptions. We made progress in sacks. He's definitely an aggressive coordinator. He'll try to get a feel for what the offense is trying to do in the first drive of the game, and then he'll make an adjustment. He'll get a feel for the game and he'll start to dial 'em up."

 

This guy sounds like just what we need

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Not at all. I'm not worried about Osi.. he isn't the bad apple here.

 

I dont know Osi seemed pretty upset when he was thrown in the rotational DE spot, I just dont see how Fewell would put up with Osi style of running 25 yards past the QB. He's all about accountability and having a pro-bowl DE play like a 7th round draft pick, I'm sure Fewell is going to hold him accountable for it. I mean if Osi comes out in his pro-bowl form and earns his spot back from Kiwi then this point is moot but if Osi continues to play like he has been I can see his little ego getting hurt and clashing with Fewell....like he did with Sheridan.

 

But like I said all of this is moot if Osi can return to his old form and make plays.

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I dont know Osi seemed pretty upset when he was thrown in the rotational DE spot, I just dont see how Fewell would put up with Osi style of running 25 yards past the QB. He's all about accountability and having a pro-bowl DE play like a 7th round draft pick, I'm sure Fewell is going to hold him accountable for it. I mean if Osi comes out in his pro-bowl form and earns his spot back from Kiwi then this point is moot but if Osi continues to play like he has been I can see his little ego getting hurt and clashing with Fewell....like he did with Sheridan.

 

But like I said all of this is moot if Osi can return to his old form and make plays.

 

Yep, Osi needs to be on the right side of Fewel. Right now the thinking is it was Sheridan who was the bad apple.. given how Osi played under Spags just fine.

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Yep, Osi needs to be on the right side of Fewel. Right now the thinking is it was Sheridan who was the bad apple.. given how Osi played under Spags just fine.

 

I dont know if its Osi who played under Spags fine or Osi playing across from one of the best DEs to play the game. I think the latter.

 

I'm just disappointed to see the D become what it was this year and just hope we can get some new talent both in coaching and players on the D.

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I dont know if its Osi who played under Spags fine or Osi playing across from one of the best DEs to play the game. I think the latter.

 

I'm just disappointed to see the D become what it was this year and just hope we can get some new talent both in coaching and players on the D.

 

Yes we didn't lose much.. as a matter of fact the only glaring difference was Sheridan. And that's why I think our D will come back to playin like it's supposed to.

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