Giants: Coaching moves

There is some not-great news to report on the Giants coaching front. Chris Palmer has left the Giants to become the head coach of the New York Sentinel of the United Football League. As an aside, I think they play in Hartford and it's a bit of a stretch to call them "New York" Sentinel. I mean - the Giants play in NJ, but at least it's considered part of the Metropolitan area and is spitting distance from midtown Manhattan. Hartford is probably 120-125 miles away (I am sure someone will google-map it and find that I'm wrong about the mileage, but you get the point... it's not part of the NY metropolitan area.)

There are two pieces of bad news associated with Chris Palmer leaving. First - Palmer did an excellent coaching Eli since he joined in 2007. His credentials as a coach are excellent: he was an assistant to Parcells in New England and Dallas. As well, he coached for Coughlin in Jacksonville before rejoining Coughlin in he current tenure with the Giants. Palmer fixed Eli's mechanics, taught him how to go through his progressions more quickly, how to be a more accurate passer and how to be more secure with the ball without sacrificing the boldness required to try and make plays down the field. Eli has become a different qb under Palmer that he was when Gilbride was qb coach. Palmer had the longing to become an OC again - he was not happy being stuck as a qb coach. He was hanging around with the Giants hoping that Gilbride would leave and become a HC somewhere (Oakland?). The Giants were not going to fire Gilbride because he still has a year left on his contract. When it became apparent that Gilbride was staying, Palmer first retired and then was wooed by the Sentinel job a few days later.

Like I said, there are two pieces of bad news in this move: (1) Palmer is leaving. (2) All indications are that Gilbride is staying. I waver from week to week as to whether Gilbride is an awful coach or just mediocre. But here's the thing: even if you think that he is mediocre - you can certainly ask yourself why the NY Giants, with an investment of $100 million in a qb, with excellent WRs and a potentially big-time, productive offense should mute its development and its productivity by saddling it with a mediocre (at best) OC.