Tom Quinn is in his 14th consecutive season as a member of the Giants’ coaching staff. For the second 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.
Last season, Aldrick Rosas had one of the finest seasons by a kicker in Giants history. Rosas was selected to his first 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. The then second-year kicker hit his final 19 field goal attempts, the second-longest streak in Giants history. And on Dec. 2, Rosas kicked the longest field goal in Giants history, a 57-yarder against Chicago in MetLife Stadium.
In his first season with the Giants, punter Riley Dixon set a franchise record with a 41.8-yard net average on 71 punts.
Michael Thomas led the Giants with nine special teams tackles (six solo) and was the NFC special teams player in the Pro Bowl.
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 2017, the kickoff and punt teams had finished 14th and 27th, respectively, in the NFL.
The Giants’ average kickoff return rose from 19.6 to 24.4 yards, and their average punt return improved from 5.5 to 6.2 yards.
In Rosas’ debut season in 2017, he made all three of his attempts from 50 or more yards, succeeding from 50, 51, and 52 yards and led the Giants with 74 points.
In 2016, the 11-5 Giants received significant contributions from several of Quinn’s special teams players.
Kickers Josh Brown and Robbie Gould combined to make 21 of 22 field goal attempts, a team-record 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 10 of his field goal attempts in the regular season, increasing his streak to 17 in a row dating back to 2015, when he played for the Chicago Bears. He also hit both of his field goal attempts (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. The team’s net punting average of 40.9 yards was its highest since it became an official statistic in 1976.
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.
In a 10-7 victory against the Cowboys, Wing tied his season high with nine punts and had a 43.2-yard gross average and a 42.9-yard net average, with a long punt of 57 yards. Five of his kicks were downed inside the 20-yard line. Dallas totaled 3 yards on 3 punt returns. One week later, in a 17-6 victory vs. the Lions, Wing was honored again after he had a 41.0-yard net average on seven punts, including one that was partially blocked and travelled only 18 yards. With the Lions trying to mount a comeback in the second half, Wing booted three consecutive punts that forced them to take possession at their own three, four, and 19-yard lines.
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 for his game-turning play in a victory against New Orleans on Sept. 18, when Johnathan Hankins blocked a 38-yard try by New Orleans’ Wil Lutz. Jenkins picked up the ball and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. Jason Pierre-Paul blocked Caleb Sturgis’ 40-yard field goal attempt with 1:07 remaining in the second quarter vs. Philadelphia on Nov. 6.
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. Harris was seventh in the NFL with a 10.0-yard average on 34 punt returns, including an 80-yard touchdown against the Jets. Harris was the third player in Giants history with kickoff and punt return touchdowns in the same season, and the first to do it since 1955.
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.
Wing, obtained in a trade with Pittsburgh prior to the season, placed 33 kicks inside the 20-yard line, tying the team record set by Brad Maynard in 1997 and 1998.
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 the highest in Giants history until he topped it last season.
Quinn’s special teams finished seventh in the Dallas Morning News’ rankings in 2012. That season, the Giants led the NFL with five special teams takeaways. Their average drive start following a kickoff was at the 25.2 yard line, which led the NFL. Rookie David Wilson set a franchise record with 1,533 kickoff return yards.
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. The three leading special teams tacklers – rookies Jacquian Williams (17) and Tyler Sash (15) and veteran Derrick Martin (12) – were newcomers.
In 2010, Zak DeOssie, the snapper on both punts and placekicks, was selected to his second Pro Bowl in three seasons. The Giants’ kickoff coverage unit was ranked fourth in the NFL, allowing an average return of only 19.7 yards.
The Giants benefited from outstanding play by Quinn’s special teams in 2009. Lawrence Tynes led the Giants and was fifth in the NFL in scoring with 126 points. With Domenik Hixon doing the bulk of the work, the Giants were seventh in the NFL with a 10.9-yard punt return average. On Oct. 18 at New Orleans, Hixon had 303 total yards, shattering Joe Scott’s 61-year-old franchise record by 24 yards. The total included 230 kickoff return and 51 punt return yards. Opposing teams averaged only 21.0 yards per kickoff return, the NFL’s eighth-best figure.
In 2008, three of the Giants’ special teams players – kicker John Carney, Feagles and DeOssie – played for the NFC Pro Bowl team.
Carney was signed just prior to the season because 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 gross average of 44.0 yards and a career-high net average of 40.2 yards on 64 punts. The Giants allowed only 140 punt return yards all season and were 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 employed three kickoff returners – Ahmad Bradshaw, Reuben Droughns and Hixon – and the Giants finished seventh in the NFL with a 23.9-yard average. The coverage teams were also strong; Giants opponents averaged only 6.2 yards on 28 punt returns.
Quinn, 51, 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
2018-19…………………….New York Giants…………………...assistant special teams
