The Buccaneers let offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan go along with coach Greg Schiano last week, but Sullivan hasn’t had to wait long for another shot at running an NFL offense.
As widely expected, Sullivan is expected to interview with the Giants for their vacant offensive coordinator position. The position opened up when Kevin Gilbride retired a few days after Giants owner John Mara called the offense “broken” in his season-ending remarks. Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News reports that the interview will take place this week.
Sullivan was on Tom Coughlin’s staff with the Giants from 2004 until he got the job running the Bucs offense in 2012. Sullivan served as wide receivers coach and then spent two years working as quarterbacks coach, experience that likely appeals to the Giants after Eli Manning’s 27-interception disappointment of a 2013 season.
A Monday report had the Giants trying to downplay their interest in Sullivan, so we’ll see if they start lining up some other interviews in the coming days. Sullivan’s experience with the team should work in his favor during interviews and, based on his years with the Giants and the offense he ran in Tampa, Sullivan would likely keep a lot of things in place from the Gilbride years. That would mean Manning and his teammates wouldn’t have to spend the whole offseason learning a whole new approach, but it would also leave the Giants susceptible to the same problems that sank them in 2013.