Big Blue Huddle

I played some of the brain challenges yesterday, and I felt I struggled a little.  I went back today and played the same games and got much better scores.   Maybe there is some benefit of challenging your brain's processing speed.

Maybe I should send the link to Daniel Jones 

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on January 25, 2024, 11:51:54 AMInteresting. I would have thought Wink would have gotten snapped up pretty quickly. That doesn't appear to be exactly the case so far. Dallas is still a possibility (I assume Quinn won't resign until he has a contract signed for a head coaching job).

I agree; if Quinn gets a head coaching job, I would see Wink as a good choice to replace him. 

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on January 25, 2024, 11:50:04 AMWithout doing a major deep dive into this, I like the sound of this hire a lot. Those ST rankings are good considering the Jets overall talent level and general leadership in the past several years. I appreciate he wasn't the actual coordinator, but he surely had influence in his role. The Jets have also had good special teams people in the past, so there may be a bit of a tradition there. Mike Westhoff was one of the best in the business, and he was with them for over a decade.

I also suspect that the Giants have pretty good intel into the Jets' coaching staff due to mutual local contacts. So they probably know a lot about this guy and his abilities/potential.

Without being unnecessarily unkind, I'll also just say that almost anyone reasonably competent will be an improvement over our previous situation, and I'll leave it at that.

And this guy may well be more promising than just "reasonably competent."

I think it's hard to assess these sorts of hires.  I suspect a lot of the hiring is based on the interview, which we are not privy to. 

https://x.com/JordanRaanan/status/1750554543929115123?s=20


NYFG
@nyfootballg
Jets ST rankings in the past 3 seasons with Ghobrial on the staff:

DVOA (
@ASchatzNFL
)

2021: 2nd
2022: 21st
2023: 5th

@RickGosselin9
 ST rankings

2021: 13th
2022: 9th
2023: 3rd




https://x.com/nyfootballg/status/1750552130836984214?s=20

For those who are interested.  Wink had a 2-day interview for the Jags DC job but lost out to the Falcon's former DC Ryan Nielsen, who is a young up-and-comer.  I suspect Wink would have liked that job, as he has a home near the Jags.

There are still head coaches to be hired, so Wink might still have a shot, but it looks like Wink giving up the $3 million-plus for his freedom may prove to be a costly decision.  Drama like the Giants suffered tends to stain all involved.

Quote from: Trench on January 25, 2024, 08:17:12 AMSo what is taking us so long?

One possibility could be that the Giants' first choice is the Ravens' Dennard Wilson, who is still in the playoffs.  Plus, it's possible the Ravens could lose their DC, and Wilson might prefer that job to the Giants' position.

Dennard Wilson was the guy the Eagles let go (much to the player's chagrin) when they hired now fired Sean Desai.  Wilson went to the Ravens and boosted the play of their secondary.  Wilson is a gamble (as all promotional hires are) but he might prove to be a find.

Ghobrial will be the ST Coordinator for the Shine Bowl's East team

MICHAEL GHOBRIAL returns for his second season as a special teams assistant after initially joining the New York Jets as part of Robert Saleh's first staff in 2021. A special teams coordinator for five seasons at the college level before joining the Jets, Ghobrial joins Special Teams Coordinator Brant Boyer and fellow Special Teams Assistant Leon Washington working with one of the NFL's best special teams units.

In his first season with the Jets (2021), Boyer, Ghobrial and Washington oversaw a group that finished second in the league in special teams DVOA according to FootballOutsiders.com as the Jets were the only team in the league to finish in the top five in both kickoff and punt return average last season. Wide receiver/return specialist Braxton Berrios was selected as an All Pro after he led the NFL in kickoff return average and finished second in punt return average.

Special teams captain Justin Hardee, one of the NFL's leading special teams tacklers since entering the league in 2017 posted a single-season best 12 tackles in his first season with the Jets. Despite using three different kickers and three different punters, the Jets finished strong in both areas as Braden Mann posted a 43.0 net punting average, fifth best in the league, over the last four games and Eddy Piñeiro, signed in Week 14, connected on all eight FG attempts as a Jet.

Prior to joining the Jets, Ghobrial served as the special teams coordinator at Washington State (2020), Hawai'i (2018-19) and Tarleton State (2016-17). Following his first season at Tarleton State, he spent training camp with the Lions as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

Ghobrial began his coaching career at his alma mater, UCLA, first as an undergrad assistant (2009-10), then a quality control coach (2011) and finally as a graduate assistant (2012-13). Following his time with the Bruins, he coached at Syracuse (2014) and Colorado Mesa (2015), serving as the team's co-special teams coordinator in addition to coaching the defensive line and outside linebackers.

Spent two seasons as a defensive end with UCLA, where he earned his bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in social science and comparative education.

FLIGHT PATH
New York Jets | 2021-Present

Assistant Special Teams - 2021-Present

Washington State | 2020

Special Teams Coordinator - 2020

Hawai'i | 2018-19

Special Teams Coordinator - 2018-19

Detroit Lions | 2017

Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship - 2017

Tarleton State | 2016-17

Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line/Outside Linebackers - 2016-17

Colorado Mesa University | 2015

Co-Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line/Outside Linebackers - 2015

Syracuse | 2014

Graduate Assistant - 2014

UCLA | 2009-13

Graduate Assistant - 2012-13

Quality Control - 2011

Undergraduate Assistant - 2009-10

PLAYING CAREER
UCLA (Defensive End) - 2006-07

https://www.newyorkjets.com/team/coaches-roster/michael-ghobrial

Quote from: Philosophers on January 25, 2024, 10:48:12 AMPlease explain Rich.  How does BB leaving get us comp picks?

As part of the NFL's efforts to increase minority representation at the HC and GM level, a team that loses a coaching or GM assistant to a team that hires them for an HC or GM job gets a 3rd round comp pick for the current draft and the next draft.  The 49ers hired and developed many minority coaching and front-office prospects, and that's why they are so talented.  They have received a ton of 3rd round comp picks.

I am told if Kafka gets an HC job, the Giants would get picks for him as well due to one set of grandparents being Puerto Rican.

Quote from: Ed Vette on January 25, 2024, 08:26:59 AMBut they weren't required to be honest about it. 

One of my pet peeves is the use of "honestly" when you mean "frankly."   To me, the subtext of "honestly, I think..." is that you don't always tell the truth.  I much prefer "frankly" or "to be blunt" as it doesn't imply other incidents where one is less than honest.

I am hoping BB gets a job, I really want those two (2024 and 2025) 3rd round comp picks.

Quote from: T200 on January 25, 2024, 10:35:05 AMCould be simply to satisfy the Rooney Rule. If Kafka was the OC for another team that had the same performance as the Giants, would we as Giants fans want Kafka to be our HC?

Tim,

That's tough to say.  On the one hand, Kafka has trained under two of the better offensive minds, Andy Reid and Brian Daboll.   One could argue that Daboll bringing his friend Bobby Johnson in to run the O-line, combined with injury at QB, short-circuited the offense more than Kafka.  On the other hand, as Mike Lombardi likes to say, HCs are elected, not selected.   Hiring Kafka wouldn't exactly sell a lot of tickets or luxury boxes due to running one of if not the worst offenses in the league last season.

Quote from: Philosophers on January 25, 2024, 10:15:22 AMCrushing.  I felt like with the coaching staff he assembled and players he had who clearly understood the schemes intimately that I thought Michigan could have been a relevant college football playoff team for a while.  Now, the uncertainty of how many coaches does he take, what other coaches leave then players who go into the portal and recruits who de-commit leaves so much uncertainty and a chance Michigan drops down again.

Remember the debate a few years ago here about how folks thought he was overrated and would never want him to be the Giants head coach?  Well, another team turned around under Coach Harbaugh.  The guy can flat out coach and win.  May not like his quirkiness but he delivers.

Between the transfer portal, coaches jumping ship for better opportunities, and NIL, it's got to be tough to be a college football fan these days.  That is unless you are rooting for one of the elite wealthy teams that can buy all the players they want and tend to keep their coaches no matter what.

Now we know how our division rivals felt when the Giants were able to land Wink Martindale

I think the most important point is that Kafka would need to get a HC job.  The Giants get nothing if he leaves for another OC job.

One thing that I think is worth noting is that Kafka must have a pretty good reputation in the league.  After the terrible season the Giants offense just had, it's a bit surprising that not one but two teams interviewed him for head coaching jobs.