Bucs to interview Giants QB coach Sullivan for OC job
Reports that the Buccaneers were set to hire former University of North Carolina head coach Butch Davis as their new offensive coordinator appear to have been premature.
According to ESPN's Rachel Nichols, the Buccaneers will interview New York Giants quarterback coach Mike Sullivan for their vacant offensive coordinator position under new head coach Greg Schiano.
Word circulated on Thursday night that the Bucs had hired Davis. However, no announcement has been forthcoming from the team, and Nichols broke the news Friday via her Twitter account (@Rachel__Nichols) that Sullivan was scheduled to interview.
Sullivan has been with the Giants since 2004, when he joined Tom Coughlin's staff as wide receivers coach after two years working for Couglin with the Jaguars. He's also coached in the collegiate ranks at Army (his alma mater), Youngstown State, Ohio University and Humboldt State.
Sullivan moved from wide receivers coach to quarterbacks coach for the 2010 season, helping Giants quarterback Eli Manning to one of the best seasons of his career. Manning set Giants single-season records in 2010 with 339 completions and a 62.9 completion percentage, then broke his own completions record in 2011 with 359 in the regular season before leading the Giants to their second Super Bowl championship in four seasons.
Davis, meanwhile, is still being paid by North Carolina under a buyout package stemming from his firing this past July. Davis was paid $933,500 last year, and is scheduled to receive additional payments of $590,000 each year through 2015. However, according to a UNC statement when Davis was fired, "these amounts would be reduced by any compensation that Coach Davis might earn from coaching in a college or professional program."
Schiano worked on Davis' staff at the University of Miami, spending two years with the Hurricanes as defensive coordinator before leaving for Rutgers, where he rebuilt the moribund Scarlet Knights football program. He was hired by the Buccaneers on January 26.
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