Add the name of Dowell Loggains as a candidate for the Giants’ offensive coordinator job. Loggains, recently fired along with Mike Munchak’s entire Titans staff, will interview with the Giants on Wednesday, the same day Mike Sullivan meets about the opening, according to a league source.
These interviews likely will be very different in scope and feel. The Giants know the 46-year-old Sullivan, their receivers coach for six years and their quarterbacks coach for two years before leaving to run the Buccaneers’ offense.
Loggains, 33, is an unknown. He played quarterback at Arkansas from 2000-2004, and has been with the Titans since 2006, working his way up through the ranks from quality control coach to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He took over calling the plays for the Titans with five games remaining in the 2012 season when offensive coordinator Chris Palmer was dismissed. That could be the link to the Giants: Palmer is a former quarterbacks coach under Tom Coughlin with the Giants, and the two also go back to their days together in Jacksonville. Perhaps Coughlin reached out to Palmer and Palmer gave Loggains a seal of approval.
Munchak reportedly could have kept his head coaching job in Tennessee had he agreed to massive firings on his staff, including Loggains. Now, both Munchak and Loggains head to Detroit later this week to speak with the Lions. Munchak reportedly will bring Loggains with him on his interview for the Lions head coaching job, likely introducing Loggains as his choice to run the offense in Detroit. Munchak is also a finalist for the Penn State job.
The knock on Loggains is that he fell too much in love with the passing game with the Titans, a team that was supposedly built about a strong running attack with Chris Johnson. Loggains began his NFL career with the Cowboys as a scouting assistant and he counts Saints coach Sean Payton – who was running the Dallas offense in 2005 – as a mentor.
Loggains also is said to be influenced by Norm Chow and the late Mike Heimerdinger. He has worked with quarterbacks Kerry Collins, Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker. The Titans finished as the NFL’s 22nd-ranked offense in 2013.
The Giants added five players to their roster Tuesday: tight end Daniel Fells, wide receiver Preston Parker, linebacker Spencer Adkins, offensive lineman Troy Kropog and kicker/punter Brandon McManus. Fells is the most experienced player of the group, with eight career touchdown receptions in 71 regular-season games for St. Louis, Denver and New England.