LAS VEGAS — The search continues.
The Giants wanted to have a new defensive coordinator in place by the end of this past week, but that did not happen. Instead of finding a successor to Wink Martindale, the Giants are actually adding to the candidate list.
Head coach Brian Daboll interviewed Daronte Jones, the Vikings’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, last week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., The Post confirmed.
That is the eighth known candidate for the defensive coordinator role, a key position on the offensive-minded Daboll’s staff.
Jones, 45, served as the defensive coordinator for the National Team at the Senior Bowl.
Incidentally, the Giants’ quarterbacks coach, Shea Tierney, was the offensive coordinator for the National squad.
Jones played cornerback at Temple and then Morgan State before embarking on his coaching career in 2001. He made it to the NFL in 2016 with the Dolphins.
He has also worked for the Bengals, and his first stint with the Vikings was in 2020 on Mike Zimmer’s staff.
He left the league to become the defensive backs coach at LSU, but it was a brief stay in Baton Rouge, La., lasting only the 2021 season working on Ed Orgeron’s staff.
When Brian Kelly took over in 2022, he did not retain Jones.
The new Vikings head coach, Kevin O’Connell, welcomed Jones back as the defensive backs coach, adding defensive pass game coordinator to his job description as one of the top assistants for defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Jones has never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL.
Daboll twice interviewed Dennard Wilson, the former Ravens defensive backs coach, but Wilson went to the Titans.
The only Giants interviewee still playing is Chiefs linebackers coach Brendan Daly, who would not be able to be hired until after Super Bowl LVIII.
Bills linebackers coach Bobby Babich met with Daboll, but Babich was promoted by the Bills to their defensive coordinator role.
Two former NFL defensive coordinators, Shane Bowen (Titans) and Derrick Ansley (Chargers) also met with Daboll, as did Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile.
The Giants wanted to speak with Ejiro Evero, but new Panthers head coach Dave Canales brought Evero back as the defensive coordinator.