00:00Look, here's the deal. When you hire someone like John Harbaugh, you have to let him cook,
00:04as they say, right? Giants fans were thrilled that John Harbaugh was actually hired by the
00:09Giants. And look, when you give a guy a hundred million dollars over five years,
00:12and he is the highest paid person in the building, you let him do his thing and hire
00:17who he wants and not keep who he wants. And there were going to be changes. The Giants won seven
00:23games the last two years. So changes needed to be made throughout the building. And those are
00:28starting. Kevin Abrams has been in the building for 27 years, mostly as the assistant general
00:33manager for 20 of those years, maybe a little bit of a lesser role recently. He's basically known as
00:39the salary cap guy, mostly. He did most of the contracts for a lot of the most beloved players
00:45that Giants fans know, the Justin Tuckson, the Brandon Jacobs, and the Eli Mannings,
00:50and the Plexigl Burruses, and all those guys. Kevin Abrams has been around for two Super Bowl
00:55champions. He has two Super Bowl rings. So he played a vital role. But ever since Joe Shane
01:01got there a little less, he was still a contract salary cap guy. So John Harbaugh comes in and he's
01:08one of the guys who's been in the building a long time. Kevin Abrams was let go. So that's a tough
01:13blow for Kevin Abrams, but not something that's totally unexpected. Okay, next Ronnie Barnes. His title
01:19is a big title, Senior Vice President of Medical Services and also the Head Athletic Trainer.
01:26Ronnie Barnes has been with the Giants since 1976. John Mara, the co-owner, once said he's as close to
01:33an untouchable in the building as anyone. John Mara has said he's more important than any head coach
01:40and any player. Ronnie Barnes is a institution. He was a pioneer, an African-American who got a very
01:47high role in the NFL with an NFL team in the 70s, which was not very common. He was at Wellington
01:56Mara's deathbed for weeks when Wellington Mara was passing away at the age of 89. The Mara family has
02:03been indebted to him forever. Now look, Ronnie Barnes is 73 years old. He has taken a slight step
02:09back in recent years, but he's always been listed still as the Head Athletic Trainer. That will no longer
02:15be the case. He will still be in charge and the supervisor of all medical services with the
02:20Giants, but John Harbaugh will hire his own Head Athletic Trainer. That's a change. That's a big
02:27change from the past, but it's not like they're showing Ronnie Barnes the door because you don't
02:31show someone like Ronnie Barnes the door. He will still be there. He's not in an emeritus role or
02:37anything, but he has taken a step back at age 73. So that's a big change though. That is a big change in
02:42the building. There's no question about it. Now we move on to the assistant coaches.
02:48Look, this is what happens. John Harbaugh comes in and is going to put the staff together the way he
02:53wants to. And I was not expecting a lot of guys to stay from Brian D'Abel's staff. Don't forget
02:59Brian D'Abel was fired 10 games into the season. John Harbaugh is going to pick his own guys, not just
03:04have guys who've been in the building before. That's not what he was going to do. So the post,
03:09I have learned that only two guys from Brian D'Abel's staff will be returning. Charlie Bullen,
03:15the outside linebacker's coach, will be staying. And Tim Kelly, the tight ends coach, will be staying.
03:21I believe in those same roles. Now, interesting. Tim Kelly was elevated to offensive coordinator,
03:26interim offensive coordinator. After Mike Kafka got the job, he was the offensive coordinator.
03:33Kafka replaced D'Abel. Kafka put in Tim Kelly. He's a respected guy.
03:38So he will stay as the tight ends coach. As far as Charlie Bullen, look, he was handed a great room.
03:45Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeau, rookie Abdul Carter, those guys did good things. When Mike Kafka was the
03:50interim head coach, after the game, the loss, the terrible loss in Detroit to the Lions, he fired
03:57Shane Bowen, the defensive coordinator, and made Charlie Bullen the interim defensive coordinator.
04:03And he did much better things. The Giants metrics defensively were much better in the last five
04:09games for Charlie Bullen. So he gets to stay not as the defensive coordinator, but as the outside
04:14linebacker's coach. Now, I know a lot of Giants fans were really, really interested in seeing what
04:19would happen with Carmen Brasilio, the offensive line coach. He has done very good things the last
04:25few years. Very popular guy in the building with the offensive linemen. The Giants were 30th in the
04:31league in a lot of offensive line metrics in 2024 in like pass rush win rate, according to Pro Football
04:39Focus. They were very high on that list, according to PFF this year. Pro Football Focus ranked the
04:46Giants as the ninth best offensive line in the league in 2025. And that is light years better than
04:53they've been for the past decade or so. So Giants fans understandably were like, it's great we have
04:58John Harbaugh and we hope and expect him to keep Carmen Brasilio. That is not happening. He will not
05:05be part of this staff. And so if Giants fans want to be in an uproar about that, so be it. But when you
05:12hire John Harbaugh, like you said, if you are thrilled with the hire, you have to trust him to build his
05:18staff the way he wants to build it. And it will not be with Carmen Brasilio. We'll see who he picks.
05:24He had George Warhop with him the last two years in Baltimore with the Ravens. He has been with nine
05:29different NFL teams as an offensive line coach. Keep an eye out for him possibly coming to the Giants
05:35in that role. Now, the key decisions for John Harbaugh moving forward, who are his offensive
05:42coordinator, who are his defensive coordinator. For offensive coordinator, I still expect it to be
05:47Todd Munkin. He was in Baltimore with Harbaugh the last three years, did some good things with Lamar
05:52Jackson. He is a well-respected offensive coordinator. I think Todd Munkin probably will get that role with
05:59the Giants. We have to wait and see. Defensive coordinator, a little more interesting because I
06:04don't think it's going to be someone from his Baltimore staff. You have Anthony Weaver, who has been
06:09an excellent offensive defensive coordinator. He's most recently with the Dolphins. You have Jim
06:15Leonard, who's with the Broncos, former Wisconsin player, former Jets safety. And you have Denard
06:21Wilson, who will not be staying with Robert Sala in Tennessee. Those are three names I keep on hearing.
06:28Anthony Weaver is still in play for some head coach jobs, so we'll have to see how that shakes out. But
06:34once again, John Harbaugh is going to put together the staff the way he wants to. Two guys from Brian
06:39Dabo's staff will be here. But other than that, it will be an all-new staff. I expect more changes.
06:45As I mentioned, he's going to bring in a new head trainer. There will be new people throughout the
06:50building in various roles. But I think it's impressive that John Harbaugh didn't come in
06:55and just gut everything, which he had the right to do for the most part. He's going to assess. He's
07:00going to see who he likes, who he doesn't like. He's already made some changes. There will be more.
07:04But if you love John Harbaugh as the Giants head coach, then you have to sit back and wait and see
07:10who he brings in for all these positions. And believe in him, because he's a Super Bowl winning
07:16coach. The Giants are thrilled to get him. And the changes are underway. And I don't think any
07:20Giants fan can look at themselves in the mirror and say, we didn't need a lot of change. So a lot
07:25of changes are coming. And that's what it's going to be.
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