New York Giants fans of a certain age obviously know Pepper Johnson as a two-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker from the Bill Parcells Giants teams. He's been an NFL assistant coach for the last 15 years. He was a member of Bill Belichick's coaching staff with the New England Patriots for 14 years (adding three more Super Bowl titles to his resume) before joining the Buffalo Bills in 2014 as their defensive line coach.

Pepper Johnson coached under Bill Belichick for 14 years before being hired by the Buffalo Bills. Howard Smith/USA TODAY Sports

Now, as Adam Schefter reported Saturday morning, the Giants plan to interview Johnson next week for their vacant defensive coordinator job.

Johnson coached linebackers and the defensive line at various times during his coaching apprenticeship in New England, and three of the four starting linemen he coached in Buffalo this year -- Mario Williams, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus -- have been selected to this year's Pro Bowl. He is 50 years old and has never been a defensive coordinator before, but the Giants last year hired an offensive coordinator (Ben McAdoo) who'd never had that job before because they believed he was ready to take the leap.

From what I have been told, there are plenty of people in the Giants' building who want Tom Coughlin to hire former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to replace Perry Fewell in this job. The Giants haven't been able to interview Spagnuolo yet, as he's on the Ravens' coaching staff and they've been preparing for a Saturday playoff game in New England. But I also have been told there are people in the Giants' building who are hoping Johnson blows them away in the interview process and convinces them he's ready for the coordinator job, because they'd like to give a shot to a fresh face on the way up the coaching ranks.

Coaching under Belichick for 14 years surely taught Johnson plenty, and as he told the New York Post this week, he believes he's ready for this chance. I personally believe that if he can convince Coughlin and the Giants during the interview process that he has a vision for how to build and lead a defense, he's the favorite for the position -- even over Spagnuolo. We'll find out in the next week or so.