Patrick Graham is leaving his post as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator to take the same job with the Las Vegas Raiders, multiple media outlets reported Friday night.
Both teams have new head coaches, Brian Daboll in New York and Josh McDaniels with Las Vegas, and Graham previously worked alongside Daboll as part of the New England Patriots’ staff. However, that apparently wasn’t enough to stop him from changing teams.
Graham, 43, is a Yale product who started his coaching career with stints at Wagner, Richmond, Notre Dame and Toledo before catching on with the Patriots in 2009. He remained on Bill Belichick’s New England staff in various capacities through 2015, then spent 2016 and ’17 as the Giants’ defensive line coach.
Following a season on the Green Bay Packers’ staff, Graham served as the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator in 2019, then returned to the Giants with the title of assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the 2020 and ’21 seasons.
The Giants finished 21st in total defense (354.8 yards per game) in the just-concluded season after coming in 12th (349.3) in 2020. The Raiders ranked 14th in total defense (337.2) in 2021, though the Giants had a slightly better scoring defense, yielding 24.5 points per game to the Raiders’ 25.8.
The Raiders’ defensive coordinator position wasn’t vacant long. Multiple media reports Friday indicated that Gus Bradley was exiting to become the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator, and reports of Graham’s arrival broke just a few hours later.
–Field Level Media