Buffalo Bills interim coach Perry Fewell has been hired by the New York Giants to be their new defensive coordinator. The team announced the move on Thursday after Fewell spent the past few days weighing offers from the Giants and the Chicago Bears.

After the Giants gave up more than 40 points in each of their last two games and 427 points for the season, rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan was fired a day after the regular season ended.

Fewell spent five seasons as head coach Tom Coughlin's secondary coach in Jacksonville. He spent the last four seasons as the Bills' defensive coordinator and was Buffalo's interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2009 season after Dick Jauron was fired.

"I expect Perry to bring the same qualities that I expect from myself," Coughlin said. "I want him to be firm, fair, honest and demanding. My expectation is that he will solidify and unify our defense and be an outstanding teacher."

Coughlin went on to say that he thinks of Perry as a teacher and a leader.

"I thought he did an outstanding job of displaying great leadership as the interim head coach of Buffalo this season," Coughlin added.

With both the Bills and the Giants using a 4-3 defensive scheme, Fewell's transition to New York should be smooth.

"I am ecstatic to come to work for the New York Giants," Fewell said. "It's a good football team with good defensive players, and it is a franchise known for defense."

In his four years as coordinator, the Bills' defense ranked 18th, 31st, 14th and 19th in the NFL.