John Harbaugh will retain two — and only two — coaches from Brian Daboll’s stable of assistants, adding outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and tight ends coach Tim Kelly to his first Giants staff, The Post has learned.
There is nothing remotely unusual about this. New head coaches routinely purge the building of the coaches from the previous regime, preferring to build their staff with their own hires, either with those they previously worked with or hand-picked newcomers.
This means Harbaugh will bring in his own offensive line coach and that Daboll appointment Carmen Bricillo is not expected to be back.
Bricillo and assistant offensive line coach James Ferentz helped the Giants put together their best offensive line play in years and the bulk of that line — left tackle Andrew Thomas, left guard Jon Runyan Jr. and center John Michael Schmitz — all are under contract and expected to return to the starting lineup. They will move forward with new position coaches.
Bullen, 41, commanded a room filled with talent, with rookie Abdul Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Burns finished with a career-high 16.5 sacks, Thibodeaux endured an injury-shortened season and Carter, the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is a finalist for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Bullen was promoted to interim defensive coordinator after the Week 12 overtime loss in Detroit, as interim head coach Mike Kafka fired Shane Bowen. Under Bullen’s direction, the defense became more aggressive and Carter’s production increased dramatically. Bullen was a defensive assistant for the Dolphins for five seasons (2012-2016) during a span when Giants general manager Joe Schoen was in scouting for the Dolphins.
Kelly, 39, arrived in 2024 and Kafka promoted him to interim offensive coordinator after Daboll was fired 10 games into the season. He had previously been an offensive coordinator for the Texans and Titans. Retaining Kelly will provide continuity for Theo Johnson as he enters his third NFL season.
