Charlie

Bullen

Bullen will have the title of run-game coordinator added to his title for the upcoming season. The 41-year-old coach received interviews for defensive coordinator openings from the Browns, Cowboys, and Cardinals after being passed on for the Giants’ DC role, but opted to remove his name from consideration for the remaining openings. Bullen joined the Giants in 2024 and briefly served as the team’s interim defensive coordinator in 2025 after Shane Bowen was fired in late-November.

The Browns are the second team to request an interview with Bullen for their defensive coordinator opening. Bullen spent some time as the Giants’ interim defensive coordinator last season after the team fired Shane Bowen, but was unable to secure the DC role under newly-hired head coach John Harbaugh. Bullen began his coaching career in 2012 as a defensive assistant for the Dolphins and has held a variety of roles over his 13 years in the NFL. He has never been hired as a defensive coordinator, so this would be a completely new role for him outside of his brief interim stint in 2025.

Bullen took on the role of interim defensive coordinator for the Giants this year after they fired Shane Bowen. The team interviewed him for the permanent DC job after John Harbaugh signed on as head coach. While they ultimately went in a different direction, Bullen was retained by the new staff. Bullen previously served as a position coach for the Cardinals under Kliff Kingsbury.

Per Schrager, Bullen has a chance to remove the “interim” part of his title, which makes sense. He significantly improved the Giants’ defensive performance after receiving the in-season promotion in Week 13, improving their quarterback pressure rate from 32.9 to 39.9 percent and lowering their yards allowed per play average from 6.1 to 5.1. The remaining four candidates include former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, Ravens DC Zach Orr and Browns DC Jim Schwartz.

Bullen was promoted from OLB coach to interim defensive coordinator and assigned play-calling duties in Week 13. The Giants allowed the third-most yards per play in Weeks 1-12 (6.1) while ranking 23rd in quarterback pressure rate (32.9 percent). With Bullen at the helm, the Giants reduced the former figure to 5.1 and increased the latter to 39.9 percent. This could be a smart move for the Cowboys.

Bullen, 41, will call the plays on the defensive side of the ball for the Giants for the rest of the season. Boasting 12 years of NFL coaching experience, Bullen got his start with the Dolphins as a defensive assistant in 2012, and rose through the ranks in Miami before taking a job with the Cardinals as their assistant linebackers coach in 2019. Bullen has never held a role as a defensive coordinator and will now have five games to show his chops for a team in need of help at defensive play-calling.