Shortly after the New York Giants hired Brian Daboll as their next head coach, he revealed expectations that Patrick Graham would return as defensive coordinator.
Graham had worked with Daboll in the past and is well-respected throughout the Giants’ organization, so the assertion made sense. To everyone except for Graham himself, that is.
Rather than staying with the Giants, Graham took off for Las Vegas, joining Josh McDaniels’ Raiders’ staff. And he did so silently.
As it turns out, there was a specific reason for that. Or reasons, as it were.
Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports that Graham’s decision to bolt for Vegas was spurred on by several events that troubled him. Primarily, the team’s decision to fire his close personal friend, Joe Judge, after promising him patience.
So why did Graham bolt for Vegas? A source said multiple factors rubbed Graham the wrong way, particularly the way his close friend Judge was fired after two years by owners who promised to be patient with the young coach.
Graham was the defensive line coach on Ben McAdoo’s staff, so he has now witnessed the Giants fire two head coaches within two years.
That wasn’t the only thing that didn’t sit well with Graham. He was also bothered by the Brian Flores lawsuit, which alleged racial bias in the Giants’ hiring practices, and the proposed timeline of events.
Aspects of Flores’ lawsuit didn’t sit well with Graham, particularly the timeline of some of the actions by ownership and front office members who were included in the complaint, according to the source.
As the late, great Billy Mays would say, “but wait, there’s more!”
Finally, Graham was troubled by the Giants’ decision to publicly announce that he was expected to return prior to him completing his interview cycle with the Minnesota Vikings.
And Graham also didn’t like when Daboll and Schoen announced that he would be back before he interviewed for the Vikings job, the source said.
So with all of those issues festering, Graham left to join another former Patriots assistant, Josh McDaniels, in Las Vegas. Graham was under contract with the Giants, but it obviously wouldn’t have been good for the new staff’s chemistry to force an unhappy coach to stay.
Once upon a time, Graham said coaching the Giants’ defense was his “dream job.” He even turned down head coaching opportunities so he could remain in East Rutherford. But as each domino fell this offseason, Graham fell more and more out of love with the organization, and more bothered by several of the ongoings.
Graham has not yet commented publicly about his Giants exit, but we should expect to hear about it at some point soon.
