Tom Quinn, the longest-tenured member of the Giants' coaching staff, is in his 15th consecutive season as a member of the Giants' coaching staff. For the third 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 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, 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.
Michael Thomas led the Giants with nine special teams tackles 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 2016, the 11-5 Giants received significant contributions from several of Quinn's special teams players.
Kickers Josh Brown and 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. 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 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. 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, 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 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, 52, 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
2018-20 New York Giants - assistant special teams
