Giants interview Bills’ DC Leslie Frazier for head coach

Former Vikings coach gets a call with the Giants

Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier interviewed for the New York Giants head coaching vacancy Saturday morning.

Per Giants.com, the former Minnesota Vikings head coach Frazier spoke on a video call with team president John Mara, chairman Steve Tisch and Joe Schoen, who was hired yesterday as the Giants’ new general manager.

Frazier is now the second person to interview for the head coaching job after Brian Daboll interviewed Friday evening. The Bills connection is now showing itself pretty forcefully as the former Bills assistant GM and now Giants GM Schoen has interviewed two current Bills coordinators.

Frazier coordinated the NFL’s top-ranked defense in 2021 and has 23 years of NFL coaching experience. Schoen and Frazier joined the Buffalo Bills in 2017 and spent the last five seasons working together, the former as the team’s assistant general manager and the latter as defensive coordinator (and assistant head coach since 2020).

Frazier previously earned a Super Bowl ring as both a player and an assistant coach. He won Super Bowl XLI in 2007 as an assistant on Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts staff and won Super Bowl XX in 1986 as a defensive back on Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears.

The Bills’ defense finished first in the NFL in several statistical categories. The unit allowed the fewest points-per-game (17.0), fewest total yards (272.8) and passing yards (163.0) a game, fewest yards-per-play (4.6) and first downs a game (16.8) and the lowest opposing third-down conversion percentage (30.8 on 66 successes in 214 attempts). Buffalo also tied for third with 30 takeaways and has finished in the top 10 in that category in each of Frazier’s five seasons as coordinator.

Frazier was the Minnesota Vikings’ interim head coach for the final six games of the 2010 season. He then became the head coach in 2011. Frazier’s last season with the Vikings was 2013 when they finished 5-10-1.

He spent two seasons as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator and one as the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary coach before joining the Bills.