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Just forget it. Just forget the idea I know some of you have that John Fox, ousted Monday as head coach of the Denver Broncos as head coach, could be defensive coordinator of the Giants. Let me put this plainly. Not going to happen. I don't need to have inside sources, be Jay Glazer or Adam Schefter, or be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Neither do you.
Fox has been a highly-successful head coach for 13 seasons. He has taken two teams to the Super Bowl. Teams will be banging down his door to ask him to be their head coach. The Chicago Bears could be at the top of that list. The New York Jets are foolish if they aren't on the list as well. The San Francisco 49ers should re-think their search and consider Fox. He's gotta be on the Oakland Raiders wish list.
Beyond the fact that Fox will be hotly sought after for the myriad of current head-coaching vacancies, there are plenty of other issues. Nick Powell of NJ.com has already laid them out, so here they are:
Yes, Fox has deep ties to the organization, having served in that role from 1997 through 2001 under Jim Fassel, and he is said to have a good relationship with Tom Coughlin. But Fox will also turn 60 in February, and underwent an aortic valve replacement in 2013 - not exactly the kind of guy that would be amenable to coming into a situation where Coughlin's future beyond this season is uncertain.
Fox also happens to be extremely overqualified to be an assistant coach at this point in his career. He's been a head coach since 2002, and a damn good one at that, with a career record of 119-89. For perspective, Coughlin's 13 wins over the last two seasons are one more win than Fox's Broncos had in 2014 alone. Having Manning under center certainly helps, but Fox also helped build Denver's defense to one of the league's best over his tenure.
Salary would also be an issue. The contract extension that Fox signed with Denver in 2012 pays him between $5 and $6 million per year, and it is safe to say that he wouldn't accept much of a pay cut to be an assistant coach again. Even the highest-paid defensive coordinators in the NFL only make between $2 and $3 million.
The romantic notion of Fox returning to the Giants, where he used to be defensive coordinator, to run the defense and be head coach in waiting is just wishful thinking.