Since the New York Giants turned to Charlie Bullen earlier this week to replace fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen for the rest of the season, the question everyone has is “what does a Charlie Bullen defense look like?”
Bullen wasn’t giving away any secrets when he met the media on Friday for the first time since becoming interim defensive coordinator.
“It’s a player-driven league, there’s no doubt and coming from my perspective, coming from my position room where there’s three first rounders, I understand fully that it’s a talent-driven league and a player-driven league,” Bullen said. “So to me, as a coach, my philosophy is always players over plays, and how can we as coaches, even as a position coach, maximize our players’ abilities and put them in position to have success – A, for themselves, maximizing what they’re good at, but then also defensively it helps us. If we’re putting (outside linebacker Brian) Burns in advantageous situations or (defensive lineman) Dex (Lawrence) in advantageous situations or (safety Jevón) Holland, that helps us.”
Bullen knows that with just five games remaining in the season he cannot reinvent the wheel.
“I’d say at this point it’s hard to wholesale change. Not that I’d do that anyway, but we’ve got years and months of time on task in this scheme,” said Bullen, the team’s outside linebackers coach the past two seasons. “And so, I don’t think it’s something you can change completely. I think we can tweak and alter, but as best I can, I just want to put these guys in position to succeed so that their skill sets are maximized and they can play as fast as possible.”
One of Bullen’s mentors is Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. Joseph is known for an attacking system that relies on four-man rush and man coverage while valuing disguise. The latter is something Bowen was criticized for being unable to do.
Will Bullen’s defense be like Joseph’s?
“It might be. It might be,” said a smiling Bullen. “No, Vance is a great friend of mine and a big mentor of mine. And we talk quite a bit, even before this type of thing and he’s influenced me for sure, so we’ll see where it goes. We’ll see where it goes.”
Bullen has never called defensive plays at any level
“We’ve done some call-it periods in practice and we’ll continue doing that and then just watching games and going through the calls, that type of thing,” Bullen said. “But it’s just as a position coach along the way, you’re always preparing for this type of moment anyway and in games have your own thoughts of what calls you might go with or even in-game just suggesting it to the play caller over the years. So, that’s kind of naturally just how coaches think. But yeah, I’d say this week just kind of getting reps at putting myself in those situations and what the moment would call for, what the menu looks like in those moments and then being able to make a decision in real time.”
With the Giants having blown so many leads this season, how will Bullen handle a similar situation?
“That’s something that we have to fix,” said Bullen. “If you want to win games, you have to finish. So, I think, again, going back to the run defense, anything that’s not successful, you got to look at why and there’s a couple reasons why.
“Again, where can we schematically make sure that these guys can execute the call so that their plate is as clean as possible before the ball snaps, so they’re in position and correctly aligned and can execute. And if that’s an issue, then we got to help them as coaches. And then, guys got to do their job and when they have a chance to make a play, they’ve got to make it.”
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