Giants Officially Hire James Bettcher As New Defensive Coordinator

Update:

The New York Giants announced Friday that they’ve officially hired former Cardinals DC James Bettcher as their new defensive coordinator.

“I’ve known James for a while, and I think he’s a rising star in the profession,”  new Giants HC PatShurmur said. “They’ve played outstanding defense in Arizona for a very long time. He’s a little bit multiple in his scheme, which I think is good. Everybody I’ve talked to (says) he inspires the player and has a great presence. We’re really, really fortunate to have him be with us.”

“(They were) very hard to score against. They find a way to put pressure on the quarterback,” Shurmur continued. “They do a good job in their coverage schemes and they’ve been good at stopping the run. He’s had a top six defense the last three years and, for whatever reason with the teams I’ve been on, I’ve crossed over against him.”

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Giants are hiring former Cardinals DC James Bettcher as their new defensive coordinator.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering that recent reports had said that Jack Del Rio was the guy to watch for the Giants.

Beyond that, a recent report said that Bettcher could be “leaning” towards taking the Titans’ defensive coordinator position. However, it appears as though the Giants were able to set up and close the deal.

Bettcher replaces Steve Spagnuolo as the Giants’ defensive coordinator under new HC Pat Shurmur.

Bettcher, 39, began his coaching career at Saints Francis (IN) in 2004 as their special teams coordinator/DL coach. He later worked for Bowling Green, North Carolina, Ball State and New Hampshire before the Colts hired him as their outside linebackers coach in 2012.

Bettcher followed Bruce Arians to Arizona in 2013 to become the Cardinals’ outside linebackers coach he was later promoted to defensive coordinator in 2015, replacing Todd Bowles.

In 2017, the Cardinals’ defense ranked No. 6 in yards allowed, No. 19 in points allowed, No. 6 in rushing yards allowed and No. 14 in passing yards allowed.