Tim Lewis gone from Giants staff

'D' leader Lewis gets axed-See my Comments at the end....
BY ARTHUR STAPLE
Newsday Staff Writer

January 12, 2007

Tom Coughlin began his staff house-cleaning yesterday, firing defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. No replacement was named.

Lewis, 42, presided over the 25th-ranked defense in the NFL, down from 24th in 2005 and 13th in 2004, his first season with the team. Injuries were a major issue throughout Lewis' tenure. The Giants lost Michael Strahan for a total of 16 games, and in 2005 were without a slew of linebackers.

But Lewis' Cover-2 scheme didn't provide enough good pass defense the past two years, even with a pair of Pro Bowl ends in 2005. The Giants were 27th against the pass in 2005 and 28th this season.

"Different things happened," said linebacker LaVar Arrington, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon Oct. 23 just as he was starting to grasp the system better. "When you have a successful team, they usually feed off one another. Whatever their strengths are, you play to it. You make sure you lean toward your strengths, knowing what your weaknesses are. We just have to find that balance. And whenever you have a team as talented as the Giants that doesn't accomplish enough, somebody has to take the rap for it. Sometimes it's the players, sometimes it's coaches."

The Giants might have an interest in Dolphins defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who was Coughlin's coordinator with the Jaguars from 1999-2001. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Capers turned down requests to be interviewed for the defensive coordinator jobs with the Falcons and Cowboys after he interviewed for the Dolphins' vacant head-coaching job.

Lewis also interviewed for that job, and he was a popular candidate last January, interviewing for five head-coaching slots. He was the Steelers' defensive coordinator from 2000-2003 after five seasons as their secondary coach.

Of the defensive assistants on the Giants' staff, line coach Mike Waufle has the best chance of being retained, having improved his group greatly during his three seasons. Linebackers coach Bill Sheridan also is popular, though his unit has been ravaged by injuries.

My Slant:
Ok so we knew this would happen, even if it wasn't all Lewis' fault because of the injuries. The cover-2 scheme wasn't working with the personnel here. Dom Capers isn't a bad coach either. Our intel informs us Capers is one of the candidates to replace Lewis. He's had his share of successes as well as failures. the Question is: what makes Coughlin think that Capers would do well here? Is Dom the guy he really wanted three years ago when he got the Job? Capers was still coaching the Houston Texans then, his second expansion franchise.
Many People are apt to say that The NFL just keeps recycling Old Coaches, not giving enough chances to new blood.
But look at what happens when college coaches try to make a jump to the Pros. How many have had even short term sucess?