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Kayvon Thibodeaux asked Dennard Wilson if he's the best DB coach

Kayvon Thibodeaux asked Dennard Wilson if he's the best DB coach originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

New York Giants pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux offered a pointed endorsement of first-year defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson during a recent media session, going as far as asking Wilson directly whether he considers himself the best DB coach in the league.

"Dennard Wilson is a great coach," Thibodeaux said. "I asked him today does he think he's the best DB coach in the league? Of course, he said yeah. I asked him that because our DBs have been playing at a high level. I saw this same defense before. So now seeing these guys play at a pace that is unbelievable, it's no question of how great of a coach he is."

Wilson's secondary has been playing at a pace Thibodeaux recognizes

Wilson was hired as the Giants' defensive coordinator in January by head coach John Harbaugh, after two seasons running the Tennessee Titans' defense. Before that, he served as Harbaugh's defensive backs coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, a tenure that gave Wilson direct experience developing a secondary under one of the more demanding coaching environments in the league.

His arrival in New York reunited him with Harbaugh, and that shared background adds context to why Thibodeaux would recognize the scheme from what he had seen before.

Wilson set the tone early, telling reporters the Giants would play "a New York brand of football" and describing his defensive approach with words like "violent," "unapologetic," and "unpredictable." The early returns at OTAs and minicamp appear to be backing that up, at least from Thibodeaux's vantage point on the edge.

Thibodeaux enters 2026 on his fifth-year option worth over $14 million, playing alongside fellow edge rushers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Arvell Reese, making one of the deepest front ends in the league.

Wilson now has the pass-rush talent to complement what the secondary is building. If the DBs are performing at the level Thibodeaux described before a regular-season snap has been played, the Giants enter 2026 with the kind of defensive depth that could make them a genuine problem in the NFC.