Tom Quinn, the longest-tenured member of the Giants' coaching staff, is in his 16th consecutive season as a member of the Giants' coaching staff. For the fourth year in a row he is an assistant special teams coach, the position he held in his first season with the team in 2006. In 2007, Quinn became the Giants' special teams coordinator, a position he held through the 2017 season.
In 2020, Graham Gano made 31 of 32 field goal attempts, a .9687 percentage that is the second highest in Giants history. Gano's predecessor, Aldrick Rosas made 32 of 33 attempts, a success rate of .9696, in 2018.
Gano's .9687 percentage was the highest among the 21 NFL kickers who attempted at least 25 field goals in 2020. His only miss was on a 57-yard try in Chicago in Week 2. Gano followed by making his next 30 field goal attempts, the longest streak in Giants history. Josh Brown hit 29 straight attempts in 2014-15.
Riley Dixon placed 28 punts inside the opposition 20-yard line, tying him with the Rams' Johnny Hekker and the Bears' Pat O'Donnell for the NFL's third-highest total. In three seasons with the Giants, Dixon has averaged 45.4 yards on 205 punts, the second-highest average in franchise history (minimum 150 punts), trailing only Steve Weatherford's 46.3-yard average on 311 kicks from 2011-14.
In 2019, the Giants' kickoff coverage team led the league and finished in the top two for the season 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.
In 2018, Rosas was selected to his first Pro Bowl 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.
The Giants finished second in the NFL in kickoff coverage, limiting opponents to an average return of 20.4 yards, and seventh in punt coverage with a 6.6-yard average.
In 2016, the 11-5 Giants received significant contributions from several of Quinn's special teams players.
Kickers Brown and Gould combined to make 21 of 22 field goal attempts, a 95.5 percent success rate. The previous mark of 93.8 percent was set in 2015.
Gould joined the team on Oct. 20 and made all 12 of his field goal attempts, including two (from 26 and 40 yards) in the NFC Wild Card Game in Green Bay.
Brad Wing punted 93 times for a 40.9-yard net average that was then a single-season Giants record. Wing was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Weeks 14 and 15 for his outstanding play in victories vs. Dallas and Detroit. He was the first Giants player to win back-to-back Special Teams Player of the Week awards since they were instituted in 1984.
Dwayne Harris was selected to his first Pro Bowl after leading the Giants in kickoff and punt returns for the second straight season. He finished fifth in the NFL with a 24.2-yard average on 22 kickoff returns, and he averaged 5.9 yards on 29 punt returns.
The Giants blocked two field goal attempts in 2016. Pro Bowl cornerback Janoris Jenkins was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after a victory against New Orleans on Sept. 18, when he returned a blocked field goal 65 yards for a touchdown.
In 2015, Quinn's units finished second in the Dallas Morning News' annual comprehensive ranking of the NFL's special teams. The Giants were seventh in the league with a 10.2-yard punt return average, and 10th with a 24.9-yard kickoff return average. They were fifth in the NFL in kickoff coverage, allowing just 20.3 yards per return.
In his first season with the Giants, Harris finished third in the NFL with a 28.7-yard average on 22 kickoff returns, including a 100-yard runback vs. Dallas on Oct. 25. Brown played in his first Pro Bowl after scoring 134 points, the highest total of his 14-year career. Brown made 30 of 32 field goal attempts in 2015, a franchise-record 93.8 percent success rate.
In 2014, the Giants' kickoff coverage team ranked second in the NFL, holding opponents to an average return of just 18.3 yard. Brown made 24 of 26 field goal attempts, a 92.3 percent success rate that was then the highest in Giants history. That season, the Giants led the NFL with five special teams takeaways.
Quinn's special teams underwent significant changes in the Giants' 2011 championship season. Steve Weatherford became the team's punter. Aaron Ross was the most frequently used punt returner and Devin Thomas and rookies Da'Rel Scott and Jerrel Jernigan combined for 47 kickoff returns.
Zak DeOssie, the snapper on both punts and placekicks, was selected to his second Pro Bowl in three seasons in 2010. The Giants' kickoff coverage unit was ranked fourth in the NFL, allowing an average return of only 19.7 yards.
In 2008, three of the Giants' special teams players – kicker John Carney, punter Jeff Feagles and DeOssie – played for the NFC Pro Bowl team.
Carney was signed just prior to the season because Lawrence Tynes was sidelined with an injury. Quinn quickly integrated Carney into the kicking unit and the veteran succeeded on 35 of 38 field goals attempts (92.1 percent). Carney's 35 field goals tied the team single-season record, which he shares with Ali Haji-Sheikh (1983) and Jay Feely (2005).
That season, Feagles had a career-high net average of 40.2 yards on 64 punts. The Giants allowed only 140 punt return yards ranked third in the NFL in punt coverage, giving up an average of only 5.9 yards a return.
The special teams overcame adversity and performed well in Quinn's first season as coordinator in 2007, when the Giants won Super Bowl XLII. Long-snapper Ryan Kuehl suffered a season-ending injury in training camp, and the Giants used rookie snappers Jay Alford (on placekicks) and DeOssie (for punts) the entire year. Tynes made 23 of 27 field goal attempts (85.2 percent), plus a game-winning 47-yarder in overtime in the NFC Championship Game in Green Bay.
Quinn coached in the collegiate ranks for 15 years before joining the Giants.
He grew up in Southern California, where he played at Foothill High School in Tustin. From 1986-90, Quinn was a linebacker at the University of Arizona, where he played on three bowl teams. He earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies in 1990 and a master's in education the following year.
Quinn and his wife, Alison, have a son, Shane, and two daughters, Logan and Riley.
1991….…………………….Davidson College………….…………………..linebackers
1992-94…………….James Madison University……special teams/recruiting coordinator 1995………………………..Boston University………………….defensive coordinator
1996-98…………………….College of the Holy Cross……………defensive coordinator
1999-2001…………San Jose State University……..linebackers/tight ends/special teams
2002-03……………………Stanford University….…………….special teams/tight ends
2004-05……………………Stanford University………special teams/outside linebackers
2006………………………..New York Giants……………..……assistant special teams
2007-17..…………………..New York Giants………………...special teams coordinator
2018-21…………………….New York Giants…………………...assistant special teams
