MOBILE, Ala. — So, what does a Shea Tierney offense look like?
The Giants’ youthful quarterbacks coach smiled.
“I’m just trying to get these guys enough stuff where they can go ahead and function and give them an advantage, but not too much stuff where it bogs them down,’’ Tierney said.
“These guys’’ are all the players on offense on the National Team at the Senior Bowl.
Tierney is serving as the offensive coordinator for that squad for the week of practices and in Saturday’s game at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama.
It is a temporary promotion for a 37-year old, who coaches a position where the upward mobility resembles a fast-pass to advancement.
Depth inside a franchise is not only reserved for the roster. Brian Daboll had never before been a head coach at any level when he assembled his first staff in 2022.
He did not make it a friends-and-family reunion, as he never before worked with any of the three coordinators he hired.
He filled two important position-coach roles with individuals from the Bills, where Daboll was the offensive coordinator. One of them, offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, did not work out and was fired after two seasons.
Tierney is a trusted Daboll assistant, playing a role in Josh Allen’s development in Buffalo and helping Daniel Jones put together a strong showing in their first year working together.
Tierney also deserves credit for Tommy DeVito’s ascension this past season from undrafted rookie to a player capable of winning three consecutive starts, making minimal mistakes along the way.
Wearing Giants’ blue coaching gear, Tierney on Tuesday broadened his horizons, giving plays to quarterbacks Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Sam Hartman, and also orchestrating the wide receivers, running backs, tight ends and offensive linemen.
After one completion in the one-on-one period, Tierney made sure to acknowledge receiver Brenden Rice from USC after a solid route and catch.
All this has to benefit the Giants.
Tierney’s extended time spent with all these prospects is sure to pay dividends in the coming weeks as the Giants’ draft board is completed.
“I think it helps us at every position,’’ Tierney told The Post. “I’m able to bounce around to all the different positions, which is something I haven’t done before. Really, when we go back you can talk about a lineman, a receiver, a running back, a quarterback, of course, because you’re in there with them as well. Really with everything it helps us get a good baseline for all of these guys. There’s gonna be 250-300 guys to look at over the next couple months, and we got a good look [at the Senior Bowl] at 130 of ’em.’’
Nix, from Oregon, and Penix, who passed Washington into the national championship game before the Huskies lost to Michigan, could be late first-round picks in the draft or perhaps they make it into the second round.
The Giants have studied both of these quarterbacks, and Tierney got to know them better this week.
Tierney’s head coach with the National Team is Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets’ defensive coordinator. Operating within a blended coaching staff also is good for Tierney’s career as he is exposed to assistants he might know peripherally or not at all.
“It’s fun,’’ he said. “It’s a good experience.
“It’s a mixed staff as everybody knows, which is really cool. Can meet some new guys, talk to them, get some things from them, let them put their spin on it, too. It’s been cool, fun to go out and do it for a whole week and see how it would be.’’
Mike Kafka will return as the Giants’ offensive coordinator now that the Seahawks have decided to hire Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as their head coach.
Tierney could have been in line as the next offensive coordinator if Kafka, who interviewed with the Seahawks after they split with Pete Carroll, had left.
Of course, Tierney wants to evolve out of his quarterbacks coach role and the experience he is receiving this week gives him a small taste of life as a coordinator.
“My goal is to just help the Giants do whatever to win,” Tierney said. “There’s always those things but I don’t really concentrate on ‘em. I’m just trying to come out here and help the guys do the best job and if that in some way shape or form helps me get better then that’s the benefit of it, I think.
“It helps me just advance in terms of my own personal growth. And I think that’s the most important thing, concentrating on that, going from there. All those other things, they happen when the Giants do well and we do well as an organization and that’s really the focus for me.”
