The New York Giants have gotten an early start on their head coaching search after firing Brian Daboll mid-season. Since then, several intriguing names have popped up as potential candidates for the job.
Among those names is Lou Anarumo, the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator with strong ties to the Giants’ organization, who could be emerging as the favorite.
Lou Anarumo is seemingly the “slight favorite” to be the Giants’ enxt head coach
Several reporters and insiders have linked Anarumo to the Giants as they kick off their search for their next head coach. Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post took it one step further, recently posting on X that Anarumo is the “slight favorite” for the job at this current moment.
The post suggests that Anarumo’s ties to Giants general manager Joe Schoen will likely make him a more attractive candidate within the organization. Anarumo and Schoen had overlapping years with the Miami Dolphins. Anarumo was a member of Miami’s coaching staff from 2012 to 2017, while Schoen was in the Dolphins’ front office from 2008 to 2016.
Following his departure from Miami, Anarumo became the Giants’ defensive backs coach in 2018. He spent one season with the franchise before becoming the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, a position he held from 2019 to 2024. This season is his first as the defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts.
A Staten Island native who used to work with Schoen in Miami and who used to work with the Giants in 2018, Anarumo has deep connections to the organization. These ties should help him gain an edge in head coach interviews.
Anarumo has been inconsistent as a defensive coordinator
Anarumo first became a defensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019. The Bengals went 2-14 that season as Anarumo inherited a unit lacking in talent that ultimately ranked 29th in yards allowed and 25th in points allowed.
However, the Bengals’ defense saw genuine improvement under Anarumo in the first half of his tenure:
- 2019 Defensive Rankings: 25th in points allowed, 29th in yards allowed
- 2020 Defensive Rankings: 22nd in points allowed, 26th in yards allowed
- 2021 Defensive Rankings: 17th in points allowed, 18th in yards allowed
- 2022 Defensive Rankings: 6th in points allowed, 16th in yards allowed
The Bengals won the AFC North in 2021 and 2022 and made deep playoff runs (a Super Bowl appearance/loss and Conference Championship appearance/loss, respectively), thanks in large part to their defense’s improvement, pairing with their high-powered offense.
But then things took a turn for the worse in Anarumo’s tenure:
- 2023 Defensive Rankings: 21st in points allowed, 31st in yards allowed
- 2024 Defensive Rankings: 25th in points allowed, 25th in yards allowed
Anarumo was then let go by the Bengals at the end of the 2024 season and hired by the Colts for the 2025 season.
The Indianapolis Colts have an 8-3 record and are one of the best teams in the NFL this season. However, by many standards, their defense is underperforming.
The Colts’ defense ranks 23rd in the NFL this season, allowing 342.7 yards per game.
Their scoring defense does rank ninth, though, surrendering just 20.8 points per game. But they have also allowed opponents to score 25+ points in five contests this season.
Anarumo’s unit has been solid this season, but it’s not like he’s leading a top-five defense in the NFL like some of the other top head coaching candidates are. And, throughout the last seven seasons that he has been a defensive coordinator, he has rarely led one of the best units in the NFL.
Should Anarumo really have an edge based on familiarity?
While Anarumo’s familiarity with the organization might be a top-selling point with the Giants’ top decision-makers, it will likely have the opposite effect on the team’s fanbase.
This is a franchise that has posted a 42-101-1 record since 2017. Looking to hire someone with familiarity with this near-decade of losing football seems like a retroactive and tone-deaf process. Fans are clamoring for change, not a recycling of previous coaches who have been involved with the organization’s descent into madness.
Furthermore, the jury is still out on general manager Joe Schoen. While ownership seems to be convinced that Schoen is the right guy to lead the head coaching search and maintain his job, many fans, analysts, and reporters alike call that narrative into question.
Nevertheless, Schoen is kicking off the organization’s head coaching search. And now, it seems likely that he will make a hiring based on his own personal connections and familiarity, rather than potentially casting a wide net to find the most-qualified coach who can bring about a new culture and significant changes to the organization.
That’s not all said to completely discredit Anarumo. He is a good coach with a respectable reputation, one that indicates he can be a culture-setter. But the question is, would he be bringing in a new culture? Or just trying to replicate an outdated model that the Giants fell in love with over a decade ago?
The other pressing question is, can the Giants say Anarumo is the best and most qualified candidate for the position? Or is he just the man they are most familiar with?
Other candidates, such as Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, ex-Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, are arguably all considered to be better, more qualified candidates for vacant head coaching positions than Anarumo. They arguably have more proven track records in their respective roles.
But will they be weighted on the same scale as Anarumo? Or will he be viewed more favorably than the rest of these candidates because of his ties to the organization?
These are the concerning questions that Giants fans should and will ask as this head coaching search ramps up with Anarumo as the reported favorite for the job.