Giants hiring UL Lafayette OC Rob Sale as O-Line coach (Report)

The Giants have found a new offensive line coach after Dave DeGuglielmo accepted a job to coach Lousiana Tech’s o-line.

There’s a new offensive line coach in East Rutherford.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Giants are hiring University of Louisiana at Lafayette offensive coordinator Rob Sale to fill the role. Sale and head coach Joe Judge go way back to their days at Alabama. The pair of individuals worked with one another from 2009-11 when Judge was a Crimson Tide special teams assistant and Sale was a strength/conditioning assistant.

The #Giants are hiring UL Ragin' Cajuns offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Rob Sale as their new OL coach, source said. A key position.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 8, 2021

This move will come after former Giants offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo found a new role coaching the offensive line at Lousiana Tech. DeGuglielmo wasn’t even with the Giants for a full season and was hired in the middle of the 2020 campaign to work alongside then-Giants offensive line coach Marc Colombo. The move, of course, led to a reported dispute between Colombo and Judge, which then led to the firing of the former.

It will be a seemingly beneficial hire for the G-Men. This past season, UL Lafayette averaged a solid 5.5 yards per carry behind its offensive line and had two players rush for at least 750 yards. The unit additionally allowed just nine sacks for a total loss of 69 yards.

The performance of the Giants offensive line will be a crucial determinant of Daniel Jones’ overall development in his third NFL season. The organization is banking on the further improvement of 2020 first-round draft pick Andrew Thomas along with the developments of center Nick Gates and soon-to-be second-year guard Shane Lemieux.

It’s currently unclear who will man the tackle spot opposite Thomas. There’s a chance Nate Solder returns after opting-out of the 2020 campaign due to coronavirus concerns, so if that’s the case, he will likely start due to the financial investment the Giants made in him a few years back. Big Blue could additionally re-sign tackle Cameron Fleming. The veteran started all 16 games this past season in the absence of Solder.