New York Giants: 10 Potential Defensive Coordinator Replacements For Perry Fewell
Sep 22, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive backs coach Kris Richard before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Current Position: Defensive Backs Coach Seattle Seahawks
When you are scouring coaching staffs for hidden gems, you usually start your search with positional coaches. When going through those positional coaches, you will narrow your search down by finding stronger units in the league. Well, you won’t find many stronger units than the defensive back group in Seattle, better known as the Legion of Boom.
Richard has been the defensive backs coach with the Seahawks since 2012, which coincidentally is when things began to turn in the Seahawks favor. That was the first year they made the playoffs with Pete Carroll as head coach, winning the Super Bowl the next season.
The defensive backs that Richard has been coaching makes up arguably the most dominant positional unit in the NFL for the past two seasons. It helps that they have top players in Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, but he Seahawks have lost players in free agency like every other team; they have just been able to continue producing no matter who is plugged in.
With the Giants, Richard would have one of the more talented defensive back groups on paper, when healthy. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Prince Amukamara and former Seahawk Walter Thurmond make for quite a defensive back trio. Too bad the three barely played together as injuries torpedoed their season.
Those three would be a good starting point as long as they are all retained along with safety Antrel Rolle. Having a coach that gets the most out of his secondary is a necessity in the NFL nowadays with how many talented passers there are. Like McAdoo last season, Richard would signal a big change in philosophy, as he would more than likely focus on the secondary as the strength instead of the defensive line and pass rush, which has been a staple for the Giants for many years.
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