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The New York Giants on Tuesday interviewed former Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen for their vacant defensive coordinator position. Allen is one of four known candidates to replaced the fired Perry Fewell as Giants defensive coordinator, along with Raheem Morris, Pepper Johnson and Steve Spagnuolo. Here's a look at what Allen brings to the table:

Allen is only 42 years old, which I can personally assure you is a very young age and indicates a man still very much in his prime. He had one season as an NFL defensive coordinator -- in 2011, with the Broncos, who went 8-8 and won the AFC West and a playoff game with Tim Tebow as their quarterback. The Broncos that year ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense, measured by yards allowed.

Off of that performance, a 39-year-old Allen was hired as head coach of the Raiders, a position for which he almost certainly was not ready and in which he went 4-12 in each of his first two seasons before starting the 2014 season 0-4 and being fired. Three of the Giants' defensive coordinator candidates -- Morris, Allen and Spagnuolo -- are former head coaches. Their combined record as NFL head coaches is 35-97. You could say that, as head coaches go, these guys are really good defensive coordinators.

Regardless, my point on Allen is that he's no retread. If the Giants are looking for a fresh, young, nimble mind to lead their defense, Allen should not be ruled out of that category simply because he's a failed head coach. It was shocking that the Raiders hired him when they did, and had they not done so, it's entirely possible he'd be a red-hot defensive coordinator with teams banging down his door for head coach interviews.

Before he was the Broncos' defensive coordinator, Allen spent five years on the defensive coaching staff of the Atlanta Falcons from 2002-05 and then five more on the New Orleans Saints' staff from 2006-10. His position-coach background is with defensive backs, but his first job with the Saints was as an assistant defensive line coach. And yes, I do find it interesting that three of the Giants' candidates -- Morris, Allen and Spagnuolo -- all have backgrounds as defensive backs coaches, especially because the Giants fired defensive backs coach Peter Giunta along with Fewell last week.

I can't handicap this. A lot of people seem to think Spagnuolo, whose interview is Wednesday, is the favorite. He may be. I know there's a strong sentiment among many in the Giants' building in favor of bringing him back. But I also know that there are those who want it to be Johnson, the former Giants' linebacker who's been an NFL assistant coach -- though never a coordinator -- for the past 15 years. Unless Johnson totally botched the interview, I will hold to my prediction that he gets the job, but that's little more than an educated guess. If it's Allen who ends up with the job, though, you shouldn't be upset just because he couldn't coach the Raiders. Nobody since Jon Gruden has been able to do that.
New York Giants defensive coordinator candidate: Dennis Allen - NFC East - ESPN

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