The Giants have denied their defensive line coach an opportunity to interview with a division rival. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Giants denied the Cowboys’ request to interview defensive line coach Andre Patterson. The Cowboys were presumably looking to hire Patterson for the same role, and the Giants rejected the potential lateral move.
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It’s not a huge surprise that new Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer tried to recruit Patterson to Dallas. The coaches worked alongside each other with the Vikings, where Patterson climbed his way up from defensive line coach to co-defensive coordinator. As ESPN’s Jordan Raanan points out, Zimmer and Patterson have a strong relationship, and the Cowboys wouldn’t have reached out unless the current Giants coach was at least entertaining the idea of a move.
On the flip side, there wouldn’t be much incentive for the Giants letting a respected coach walk to a division rival. Patterson has spent the past two seasons in New York, and despite an overhaul of the defensive coaching staff this offseason, the veteran coach was one of the few to stick around. In fact, the Giants made it clear to potential defensive coordinator candidates that they intended to keep Patterson on their next defensive staff (per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post). During his time in New York, the DL coach has been credited with guiding Dexter Lawrence to two All-Pro nods.
Patterson has been coaching since the ’80s, spending time in both the NFL and college football. He often held the title of defensive line coach, including a three-year stint with the Cowboys in the early 2000s. Zimmer coaxed him out of the NCAA back in 2014, and Patterson has spent nearly the past decade coaching in the NFL.
As Art Stapleton of USA Today points out, the move could also be a bit of payback from the Giants organization. When Zimmer was in Minnesota, he denied the Giants’ request to interview Kevin Stefanski for an offensive coordinator job despite already having an offensive coordinator of his own (John DeFilippo).