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Chris Palmer

Chris Palmer is in his third season as the Giants' quarterbacks coach. Palmer is a 37-year coaching veteran who is in his 20th season as an NFL coach. During his long and distinguished NFL coaching career, Palmer has tutored Pro Bowl quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe, Mark Brunell, Tony Romo and Eli Manning.

His current star pupil is Manning, who has put together two outstanding seasons under Palmer's guidance. In 2008, Manning completed 289 of 479 passes (60.3 percent) for 3,238 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a passer rating of 86.4. The completion percentage and rating were career highs. Manning twice had single-game career high passer ratings. On Sept. 14 in St. Louis, he completed 20 of 29 passes for 260 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 131.4. Three weeks later vs. Seattle, Manning completed 19 of 25 passes for 267 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 136.6, the highest of his career, including both regular season and postseason games. Manning is the first Giants quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in four consecutive seasons and the first to throw at least 20 touchdown passes four years in a row.

Manning was superb in the 2007 postseason, when he led the Giants to four victories, including an upset of New England in Super Bowl XLII. In the playoffs, Manning completed 72 of 119 passes (60.5 percent) for 854 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception.

When he joined the Giants, Palmer filled an opening created when Kevin Gilbride became the offensive coordinator. Palmer and head coach Tom Coughlin previously worked together with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1997-98.

Palmer came to the Giants after spending the 2006 season as the Dallas Cowboys' quarterbacks coach. Under Palmer's direction, Romo enjoyed a meteoric rise from a player who had not thrown a regular season pass in almost 3½ years with the Cowboys to a Pro Bowler. Romo, who took over the job at halftime of a loss to the Giants on Oct. 23, won five of his first six starts, finished 6-4 and led the Cowboys to an NFC Wild Card playoff berth. He completed 220 of 337 passes (65.3 percent) for 2,903 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Palmer joined the Cowboys after serving as the offensive coordinator of the Houston Texans from 2001-05, the first five years of the franchise's existence (the team played its initial game in 2002). The Texans' first-ever draft choice was quarterback David Carr, who is in his second season as Manning's backup. With Palmer at the forefront of his development, Carr developed into a productive quarterback, completing 61.2 percent of his passes and throwing for 3,531 yards in 2004.

Prior to his stint with the Texans, Palmer spent two seasons as head coach of the expansion Cleveland Browns. The team was 2-14 in its inaugural season in 1999 and suffered several serious injuries in a 3-13 campaign in 2000. In Cleveland, Palmer worked with quarterback Tim Couch, who, like Manning and Carr, was a first overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Coughlin and Palmer first worked together when the latter was named the Jaguars' offensive coordinator in 1997. During Palmer's two seasons in Jacksonville, the Jaguars were ranked seventh and 10th, respectively, in the NFL in total offense. The '98 Jaguars won the AFC Central championship and averaged 325.9 yards a game, which was fifth in the NFL.

In addition, Palmer played a pivotal role in the improvement of Brunell, who became one of the AFC's finest quarterbacks. In 1997, Brunell led the conference with a 91.2 passer rating and played in his first Pro Bowl. He returned to Hawaii the following season. Palmer's influence was perhaps more evident when Brunell was sidelined. In his two years in Jacksonville, five different Jaguars starting quarterbacks won at least one game: Brunell, Rob Johnson, Steve Matthews, Jamie Martin and Jonathan Quinn.

Palmer was with the New England Patriots from 1993-96, the first three seasons as the wide receivers coach and the final year as the quarterbacks coach. In his season working with Bledsoe, the quarterback led the NFL in passing attempts (623) and completions (373) and was third in passing yards (4,086) and touchdowns (27). The Patriots won the AFC title before losing to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.

Palmer's first NFL coaching experience was as the Houston Oilers' wide receivers coach from 1990-92 when Gilbride was the offensive coordinator. During those three seasons, the Run 'N Shoot Oilers had the NFL's most productive passing attack. Four Houston wide receivers - Curtis Duncan, Earnest Givens (twice), Drew Hill and Haywood Jeffires (twice) made the Pro Bowl while being coached by Palmer.

Prior to entering the NFL, Palmer was a successful college coach. He was the head coach at Boston University in 1988-89 and at the University of New Haven in 1986-87, when the Chargers posted consecutive 8-2 records.

Palmer's first professional coaching experience came in 1983, when he was the offensive line coach for the Montreal Concordes in the Canadian Football League. The following year, he coached the wide receivers for the USFL's New Jersey Generals. In 1985, he was promoted to quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. That year, Palmer's offense featured quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Brian Sipe and running back Herschel Walker, who rushed for 2,411 yards.

Palmer began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Connecticut, where he coached the freshman defensive line in 1972 and the varsity wide receivers in 1973 and 74. In 1975, he became the wide receivers coach at Lehigh. The following year, Palmer was named the offensive coordinator at Colgate, where he stayed for seven years. In 1977, the Red Raiders led the nation in total offense with an average of 486 yards a game.

Palmer played quarterback for Southern Connecticut State from 1968-71. He earned both bachelor's and master's degrees at SCSU, where he was inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Hall of Fame at New Haven and Immaculate High School.

Palmer is a native of Brewster, N.Y. He has his wife, Donna, have two children, Mark and Kristin, a granddaughter, Annette Grace, and a grandson, Casey Christopher.

PALMER AT A GLANCE

1972-74.................Connecticut...................................defensive line/wide receivers
1975.....................Lehigh...........................................wide receivers coach
1976-82.................Colgate...........................................offensive coordinator
1983.....................Montreal Concordes.............................offensive line coach
1984.....................New Jersey Generals...........................wide receivers coach
1985.....................New Jersey Generals................quarterbacks/offensive coordinator
1986-87..................New Haven..............................................head coach
1988-89..................Boston University.......................................head coach
1990-92..................Houston Oilers..................................wide receivers coach
1993-95..................New England Patriots.........................wide receivers coach
1996......................New England Patriots............................quarterbacks coach
1997-98..................Jacksonville Jaguars.............................offensive coordinator
1999-2000...............Cleveland Browns.....................................head coach
2001-05...................Houston Texans................................offensive coordinator
2006.......................Dallas Cowboys................................quarterbacks coach
2007-09.....................New York Giants................................quarterbacks coach