EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Kris Richard today became the first candidate interviewed by the Giants for their vacant head coaching position.
Richard, 40, met with team president John Mara, general manager Dave Gettleman, vice president of football operations Kevin Abrams, as well as other staff.
Pat Shurmur was dismissed as head coach on Monday.
Richard spent the past two seasons in the NFC East as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach.
In 2019, Dallas' pass defense ranked 10th in the NFL, allowing 223.5 yards a game. The Cowboys allowed 21 touchdown passes, tied for the league's eighth-lowest figure and about four fewer than the NFL average.
The previous season, the Cowboys finished 13th in pass defense, allowing 234.7 yards a game, and 22 touchdown passes. Three important contributors to the pass defense, end DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback Byron Jones and rookie linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, were selected to the Pro Bowl. Richard moved Jones back to corner after the player had spent the majority of his time at safety.
Prior to joining the Cowboys, Richard spent eight seasons on the coaching staff of the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he helped develop the famed "Legion of Boom" secondary that included Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Brandon Browner and Byron Maxwell.
After beginning his tenure in Seattle in 2010 as the team's assistant defensive backs coach, Richard spent one season as the cornerbacks coach and two as the defensive backs coach. In 2015, he began a three-year stint as the Seahawks' defensive coordinator.
Under Richard's tutelage in Seattle, Thomas earned five Pro Bowl nominations and four AP All-Pro (three first-team, one second-team) selections, Sherman was a four-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro (three first-team, one second-team) and Chancellor a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro.
In Richard's first season as coordinator in 2015, Seattle led the NFL in scoring defense for the fourth consecutive season, becoming the first defense in the Super Bowl era to accomplish the feat. The unit led the league by allowing just 81.5 rushing yards a game and a franchise-record low 1,304 yards.
Richard's 2013 secondary was one of the most dominant in NFL history. The Seahawks ranked first in the NFL in passing defense (172.0 yards per game), interceptions (28) and opposing quarterback passer rating (63.4). In Seattle's Super Bowl XLVIII victory against Denver in MetLife Stadium, Seattle's secondary held Peyton Manning to 280 passing yards – 60 less than his regular-season average - and a 73.5 rating (after he had posted 115.1 rating during the season).
During Richard's tenure, Seattle's defense ranked in the top five in five consecutive seasons (2012-16). The Seahawks also became the fourth team in NFL history to lead the league in fewest points and yards allowed in back-to-back seasons (2013-14).
Prior to Seattle, Richard spent two seasons (2008-09) as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, USC, working with the defensive backs.
Originally a third-round draft choice (85th overall) by Seattle, Richard played in 38 games at cornerback with one start in three years for the Seahawks before playing one season in San Francisco. At USC, he was a four-year letter winner from 1998-2001 and a started in his final three seasons. Richard had eight career interceptions and returned three for touchdowns, along with 125 tackles, 19 deflections and two fumble recoveries.
Richard received his bachelor's degree in sociology from USC in 2002. He and his wife, Chandra, have one daughter, Alyssa, and two sons, Aiden and Asher.
