Brian Daboll brought in a little familiarity and a lot of experience with his latest three additions to the Giants coaching staff.
The Giants are hiring defensive line coach Andre Patterson, wide receivers coach Mike Groh, assistant offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. and linebackers coach John Egorugwu, sources told The Post, confirming various other reports.
The well-traveled Patterson’s first job as a defensive line coach was with Weber State in 1988 and his first in the NFL was with the Patriots in 1997. Patterson, 61, was a key member of Mike Zimmer’s staff for the entirety of his eight-year run as Vikings head coach, rising from defensive line coach to co-defensive coordinator to assistant head coach while maintaining command over the defensive front.
So, Patterson worked closely with Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen — the kind of top-tier edge rushers the Giants haven’t had since trading Jason Pierre-Paul in 2018. The Vikings primarily ran a 4-3 defensive front compared to the 3-4 fronts used by the Giants over the last two seasons and by new Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale with the Ravens, but Patterson is known for creating exotic looks on the line.Â
Egorugwu is the rare Daboll-Martindale crossover connection. He was a defensive assistant for the Ravens (2015-16) when Martindale was the linebackers coach, and he was an assistant linebackers coach for the Bills (2017-20) when Daboll was the offensive coordinator. Egorugwu spent last season as the linebackers coach at Vanderbilt.
Sparano Jr. and Groh are both second-generation coaches with ties to the Jets.
Sparano Jr., a 35-year-old University at Albany product, previously was the assistant offensive line coach for the Panthers (2021) and the Jaguars (2017-20). He is the son of the late Tony Sparano, who was the head coach of the Dolphins from 2008-11. That 2011 staff featured Daboll as offensive coordinator and Sparano Jr. as an offensive quality control coach, with Giants general manager Joe Schoen as a Dolphins national scout.
The father-son tandem came to the Jets in 2012, with the elder Sparano serving as offensive coordinator for one season. The younger Sparano stayed for three years, graduating from intern to offensive assistant and then following head coach Rex Ryan to Buffalo as tight ends coach (2015-16).
Sparano Jr. and new Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson have worked for many of the same teams over the last decade but not at the same time. The Giants had four coaches involved with the offensive last season but total (or close to it) overhaul is expected.
Sparano Jr. has followed in his father’s footsteps as primarily an offensive line and tight ends coach. The elder Soprano died unexpectedly of heart disease at age 56 in 2018, just before what would have been his first training camp as a Vikings assistant.
Groh’s father, Al, was the Jets head coach in 2000, after Bill Belichick’s unexpected resignation. He also won a Super Bowl ring as Giants linebackers coach in 1990 and was defensive coordinator the next season.Â
Mike Groh, 50, broke into coaching as an assistant on that Jets team and continued working for his father at Virginia, climbing his way to offensive coordinator (2006-08). He has been a wide receivers coach for Alabama as well as the NFL’s Bears, Rams, Eagles and Colts (2020-21).
The younger Groh was the Eagles offensive coordinator (2018-19) but was fired during head coach Doug Pederson’s feud with management just before he lost his job, too.
Patterson and Groh continue Daboll’s trend of a willingness to hire highly regarded assistant coaches, not necessarily stay within a network of former colleagues.
