The immediate trouble on the tracks should have been a sign of a train wreck was coming.
Not long after Bill Sheridan was hired last year as the Giants defensive coordinator, he revealed he’d make the defensive calls from upstairs in the press box, away from what he called “the mayhem” of the sideline. That never transpired, as Tom Coughlin — as well as the players — wanted Sheridan on the sideline, and that’s where he spent the entire season.
Sheridan is gone after one miserable season, in which the Giants allowed 427 points — second most in franchise history. His replacement, newly hired Perry Fewell, yesterday said he’s not yet committed where he’ll work on game days. For the majority of his four years running the Bills defense, Fewell called the game from upstairs. He was named Buffalo’s interim head coach last November after Dick Jauron was fired and, assuming the dual role of head coach and defensive coordinator, was on the sideline for the final seven games.
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“I’m comfortable at doing either/or,” Fewell said. “I think I need to learn our players and what I expect of them and what I can see from them and what we’re going to do within our scheme and then Coach Coughlin and I will discuss where we want to go with it.”
Bet on Fewell being down on the sideline. Coughlin wants the guy running his defense to be able to look players in the eye and motivate them on the bench, rather than simply be a voice from above. Don’t forget, the defense displayed a glaring lack of leadership after linebacker Antonio Pierce went out with a neck injury, and having an inspiring presence on the sideline can’t be overvalued. Also, Sheridan mostly was a stoic personality that did not outwardly rally the troops. Fewell last season could be seen actively celebrating with and cajoling the Bills, and admits he’s an emotional coach.
“I get pretty excited on the sideline and I’m probably a little more controlled when I called it from the press box,” Fewell said. “When I called it from the sideline sometimes you can get caught up into the ballgame and you chest-bump a player or you slap somebody on the hind-end or something like that, and then you got to go back and get by yourself and gather your thoughts again.”
Fewell, an advocate of the Tampa-2 scheme, said he’s in the process of evaluating the players he inherits and has not determined what defensive system he’ll install. Among his other comments during his first meeting with the New York media:
On Osi Umenyiora, whom Sheridan yanked from the starting lineup: “I can’t speak to what happened a year ago. When I look at Osi, I see a football player and when you have a football player, obviously you want that player to be on the field all the time.”
On the defensive line being the strength of the unit: “As I evaluate the numbers of athletes in that position, I haven’t been with very many teams that have that many talented athletes at one position.”
On if his past relationship with Coughlin as the defensive backs coach with the Jaguars played a major role in his choosing the Giants over the Bears: “Really it wasn’t the relationship, it was the opportunity to coach for the New York football Giants.”
On the disappointment he felt not getting the Bills permanent head coaching job (which went to Chan Gailey): “Yes, I did expect a second interview. I was very honored to have the opportunity to lead the Bills. When you enter a process like that, it’s a situation that beauty’s in the eye of the beholder. Did I think I did a good enough job? If I would have won one more game, then yes, I would have said I did a great job in leading the Bills and I had a winning record. I won three games and lost four games and so they thought they needed to make a change and so they did.”
paul.schwartz@nypost.com