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Peter Giunta

Peter Giunta is in his fourth season as the Giants' secondary coach/cornerbacks. He joined the team on Jan. 18, 2006. Giunta, who has spent 18 of his 28-year coaching career in the NFL, was the defensive coordinator for the 1999 Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.

In his first three seasons with the Giants, Giunta has been at the forefront in the development of young cornerbacks such as Aaron Ross, Corey Webster, Kevin Dockery and Terrell Thomas. In 2008, Webster, Ross and James Butler Butler tied for the team lead with three interceptions apiece. Ross, the team's 2007 first-round draft choice, scored a touchdown on an interception return in each of his first two seasons. Webster, a second-round choice in 2005, re-joined the starting lineup in the 2007 postseason and has since played superbly. Dockery joined the team as an unheralded rookie free agent in 2006, but has become a steady and reliable contributor in sub defenses and as a fill-in starter. After missing the first month of the season with a hamstring injury, Thomas became an important member of the secondary in the second half of his rookie season.

With the cornerbacks playing solid football all season, the Giants were eighth in the NFL in pass defense in 2008, allowing 196.2 yards a game.

Prior to joining the Giants, Giunta (pronounced GEN-ta) spent five seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs' defensive backs coach. In 2003, safety Jerome Woods earned his initial Pro Bowl berth under Giunta's guidance, an impressive feat considering the fact that he missed the entire 2002 campaign with a broken right leg. The Chiefs registered 25 interceptions to rank third in the NFL that season, as safety Greg Wesley and cornerback Dexter McCleon paced the team with six picks apiece.

Giunta joined the Chiefs after spending four seasons (1997-2000) with St. Louis, including the last three as that club's defensive coordinator. Giunta served as the Rams' assistant head coach under Dick Vermeil in 1998-99 after originally joining the Rams staff as defensive backs coach in 1997.

As Rams defensive coordinator, Giunta was responsible for the resurgence in the St. Louis defense which helped spark the club's remarkable run to a world championship in 1999. Those efforts culminated with a 13-3 regular season record that year and a 23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV. Giunta's unit led the league in rush defense in '99, allowing just 74.3 yards per game, while ranking fourth in scoring defense (15.1 points per game) and sixth in total defense (293.6 yards per game).

The Rams' 1999 defense led the NFC and was second in the NFL with 29 interceptions. Cornerback Todd Lyght led the way, tying for the league lead with six interceptions, earning his initial Pro Bowl berth in the process. St. Louis was also opportunistic, returning nine takeaways (seven interception and two fumbles) for touchdowns in '99. Those turnovers were due in large part to a Rams pass rush which racked up 57.0 sacks, a figure which tied Tom Coughlin's Jacksonville Jaguars for the league lead. That charge was headlined by Pro Bowl DE Kevin Carter, who led the NFL with 17.0 sacks.

Giunta has long had a reputation for getting the most out of the defensive backs he coaches. In 2000, McCleon intercepted eight passes for St. Louis, a total which was surpassed only by Green Bay safety Darren Sharper, who had nine. In Giunta's first season as defensive coordinator in 1998, St. Louis ranked third in the NFL in passing defense, allowing 176.9 yards per game. With Giunta serving as defensive backs coach in 1997 the Rams were second in the league with 25 interceptions, including an NFL-high nine by Ryan McNeil.

Prior to joining the Rams, Giunta spent two seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Jets. In 1995, the Jets led the league in pass defense (171.3 yards per game). Giunta was also instrumental in the development of cornerback Aaron Glenn, who played in the Pro Bowl following the 1997 and '98 seasons.

Giunta entered the NFL as the defensive backs in Philadelphia from 1991-94. During the '91 season, the Eagles defense ranked first in the league in passing defense (150.8 yards per game), rushing defense (71.0 yards per game) and total defense (221.8 yards per game). That marked just the fifth time in NFL history and the first time since 1975 that a single team led the league in all three of those defensive categories. No team has equaled that feat since the 1991 Eagles.

Giunta's 10 seasons in the collegiate ranks began at Penn State (1981-83). Giunta was a defensive assistant his first year on Joe Paterno's staff before coaching the tight ends in his final two seasons. While he was at Penn State, the Nittany Lions won the 1982 National Championship with a 27-23 victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Penn State won three bowl games during Giunta's tenure ('82 Fiesta, '83 Sugar and '83 Aloha).

Following Penn State, Giunta moved to Brown (1984-87), where he coached both the tight ends and wide receivers before becoming the offensive coordinator (1986-87). Giunta then joined the staff at Lehigh (1988-90), where he was responsible for the tight ends and wide receivers.

After a four-year playing career as a defensive back and running back at Northeastern (1974-77), Giunta began his coaching career in Massachusetts where he was an assistant coach at Swampscott High School from 1978-80.

Giunta is a native of Salem, Massachusetts and a graduate of Northeastern University. He and his wife, Cindy, have three children: Christina, John and D.J.

GIUNTA AT A GLANCE

1982-83..........................Penn State University...........................tight ends coach
1984-85.........................Brown University..............tight ends/wide receivers coach
1986-87.........................Brown University...........................offensive coordinator
1988-90........................Lehigh University..............tight ends/wide receivers coach
1991-94.........................Philadelphia Eagles.......................defensive backs coach
1995-96.........................New York Jets............................defensive backs coach
1997.............................St. Louis Rams............................defensive backs coach
1998-2000......................St. Louis Rams...............asst. head coach/def. coordinator
2001-2005......................Kansas City Chiefs........................defensive backs coach
2006-09.........................New York Giants..................secondary coach/cornerbacks