Anthony Blevins is in his fourth season with the Giants and first as the team's assistant linebackers coach/special teams assistant. He spent the 2020 season as the assistant defensive backs coach and the previous two years as the Giants' assistant special teams coach.
Last season, Blevins helped develop a pass defense that jumped from 28th in the league in 2019 to a tie for 16th. The Giants allowed 237.9 yards game through the air, a 26.2-yard improvement over their 2019 average and the team's lowest figure since 2013, when they gave up 223.3 yards a game through the air and were 10th in the league. Cornerback James Bradberry was selected to his first Pro Bowl after leading the team with three interceptions and tying for second in the NFL with 18 passes defensed. Another newcomer, Logan Ryan, moved from cornerback to safety and finished second on the Giants with 92 tackles (67 solo). Ryan teamed with Jabrill Peppers to give the Giants a strong last line of defense. Blevins helped develop Xavier McKinney and Darnay Holmes, who made significant contributions as rookies.
Blevins assisted special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey in 2019, when the Giants finished seventh in Rick Gosselin's special teams rankings. The team's kickoff coverage team led the league and finished in the top two for the second straight season by allowing an average return of just 18.1 yards. The punt coverage team was tied for fifth as opponents averaged only 5.7 yards a return. Conversely, the Giants were fourth and 10th, respectively, in the NFL in punt (9.8 yards) and kickoff (23.5 yards) return average.
Punter Riley Dixon was ninth in the league with a 42.3-yard net average, a franchise record since the statistic was first kept in 1976. He set the previous mark of 41.8 yards in 2018.
The previous year, kicker Aldrick Rosas was selected to the Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro after making 32 of 33 field goal attempts and 31 of 32 extra point tries. The 32 field goals were the fifth-highest total in Giants history.
Rosas' .970 field goal percentage was a Giants record and was just 1/100th of a percentage point behind NFL leader Robbie Gould, a former Giant. Rosas' 127 points tied Ali Haji-Sheikh (1983) for the fifth-highest total in Giants history. He hit his final 19 field goal attempts, then the second-longest streak in Giants history.
Before joining the Giants, Blevins spent five years as a coaching assistant/special teams with the Arizona Cardinals.
During his time with the Cardinals, Blevins helped special teamer Justin Bethel get selected to three consecutive Pro Bowls (2013-15) after leading the team in special teams tackles each season. In 2013 and 2015, Bethel was named first-team All-NFL by the Pro Football Writers Association.
David Johnson was fifth in the NFL with a 27.2-yard kickoff return average and set a franchise record with a 108-yard touchdown in 2015.
All-Pro Kicker Chandler Catanzaro tied the NFL record for the most consecutive field goals to begin a career (17) and established a franchise rookie record with 114 points in 2014. The following season, Catanzaro finished third in the NFL with 137 points, which was also the second-highest single-season total in franchise history.
Dave Zastudil's 45.7-yard punting average in 2013 was the third-highest in franchise history. A year later, Drew Butler tied for the NFL lead with 34 punts inside the 20.
In 2017, Blevins coached rookie Budda Baker, who was selected as the NFC special teams representative in the Pro Bowl. Baker led the Cardinals with 16 special teams tackles and was selected All-Pro by the AP and the pro Football Writers Association.
Blevins spent the 2012 season as the cornerbacks coach at his alma mater, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, following three seasons at Tennessee State (2009-11) coaching special teams and cornerbacks. He also worked at the University of Tennessee-Martin in 2008 coaching cornerbacks while serving as recruiting coordinator.
Blevins was a part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Program with the Indianapolis Colts in 2011, the Cardinals in 2010, and the Chicago Bears in 2008.
A three-year letter winner, Blevins played cornerback at UAB from 1995-98. He played professionally for the Mobile Admirals of the Regional Football League (1999), the Birmingham Steeldogs of AFL2 (2000), and for the Birmingham Thunderbolts in the XFL from 2000-01.
Blevins began his coaching career as the secondary coach and team community liaison at Meadowcreek High School in Gwinnett, Ga. in 2003-04. From 2005-07, he served as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State, helping coach wide receivers and defensive backs for the Bulldogs while also assisting special teams.
A native of Birmingham, Blevins graduated from UAB in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and earned a master's in instructional technology in 2006 from Mississippi State. In the fall of 2015, he earned a PhD in instructional systems & workforce development from Mississippi State.
2005–07 Mississippi State University graduate assistant
2008 University of Tennessee at Martin cornerbacks/recruiting coordinator
2009–11 Tennessee State University special teams/cornerbacks
2012 University of Alabama at Birmingham cornerbacks
2013–17 Arizona Cardinals coaching assistant/special teams
2018-19 New York Giants assistant special teams
2020 New York Giants assistant defensive backs
2021 New York Giants assistant linebackers/special teams assistant
