Derrick Ansley‘s season in charge of the Chargers’ defense changed following Brandon Staley‘s late-season ouster, giving the veteran assistant some play-calling experience. Shortly after, he is drawing attention elsewhere.
The Giants requested permission to meet with Ansley about their DC job Monday, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. Although Ansley secured the Bolts’ DC gig last year, this profiles as his first outside interview request for a coordinator role.
Ansley and Brian Daboll coached on the Alabama staff together in 2017. Ansley also coached Giants safety Xavier McKinney in college. Although McKinney is due for free agency, the Giants will discuss a second contract.
Ansley joins fellow Giants DC candidate as an incumbent coordinator in a likely transition. Following Mike Vrabel‘s firing, Titans DC Shane Bowen is also on the Giants’ radar. Like Bowen, it is unlikely Ansley will be asked back by his current team. The Giants are seeking a replacement for Don Martindale, whose two-year Giants tenure ended in explosive fashion last week. Considering the friction that developed between Daboll and Martindale, it would not surprise if the two-year Giants HC went with familiarity this time around. Ansley would supply that.
The Bolts promoted Ansley to replace two-year DC Renaldo Hill, who left to rejoin Vic Fangio in Miami during the 2023 coaching carousel. This left the team with two new coordinators, Ansley and Kellen Moore. While Moore received a chance to interview for Staley’s old job, the Chargers have not interviewed Ansley. The Chargers ranked 24th defensively but 17th against the pass last season. Under Ansley’s guidance, Derwin James bounced back from two major injuries to book Pro Bowl nods from 2021-22.
Prior to his ascent to the DC chair in Los Angeles, Ansley spent two seasons as the Chargers’ DBs coach. Ansley, 42, coached the Raiders’ DBs in 2018 but spent the 2019 and ’20 seasons as the Tennessee Volunteers’ DC. Also collecting multiple national championship rings while at Alabama — most notably as the Crimson Tide’s DBs coach from 2016-17, the latter season coming with Daboll in place as Nick Saban’s OC — Ansley has 15 years’ experience in the college ranks.
Additionally, Big Blue is hoping to meet with Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Campanile has been Miami’s LBs coach since 2020, with Fangio keeping the Josh Boyer holdover on staff. Campanile’s previous work came exclusively at the college level.
Campanile, 41, spent the 2019 season on Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan staff, as linebackers coach, after rising to the role of co-defensive coordinator at Boston College in 2018. Campanile also coached defensive backs, tight ends and wide receivers as a college assistant, spending time at Rutgers before moving to Boston. Due to their Bills past, Daboll and Joe Schoen have a degree of familiarity with Campanile.
Campanile joins three others as Giants DC interview hopefuls. Here is how the Giants’ DC search is shaping up:
- Derrick Ansley, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Interview requested
- Shane Bowen, defensive coordinator (Titans): To interview
- Anthony Campanile, linebackers coach (Dolphins): Interview requested
- Dennard Wilson, defensive backs coach (Ravens): To interview