Cleaning the house
January 7th, 2010 | by mike577 |The dismissal of defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan happened about 24 hours after the Giants’ loss to the Vikings a few days ago, and yesterday the axe fell again at the Meadowlands, as defensive line coach Mike Waufle was let go by Tom Coughlin. None of these moves are huge surprises, and there are likely to be more of them, but this one may have had an ounce of shock only because Waufle has been with the team as long as Coughlin.
Of course, in addition to the team defense being woeful as a unit, the D-line underachieved all year too, with sacks dropping to 32 from 42 the year before and from a league high 53 in 2007. You never really heard much about Waufle, but I personally remember watching the 2007 Super Bowl DVD and appreciated the way he was constantly firing up Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and company during that historical playoff run.
Anyway, I can’t say I know this for a fact, but my guess is that Sheridan’s system did not allow for Waufle’s players to do things they normally do. Either that, or Waufle, who has been a D-line coach for about ten years now (six seasons with the Raiders before coming to the Giants), is just set in his ways a bit. Let’s face it, the NFL and its offensive and defensive schemes change year to year and even game to game, so you have to roll with all of that.
The bottom line, however, is that we all knew changes was imminent and necessary, and this is still just the beginning.
Tags: 2007 Giants, Bill Sheridan, defensive coordinator, defensive line coach, Giants, Meadowlands, Michael Strahan, Mike Waufle, Mike Waufle fired, New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora, Raiders, Super Bowl, Tom Coughlin, Vikings
