  We introduce coherent states averaged over a gauge group action to study
correlators of half BPS states in ${\cal N}=4 $ SYM theory. The overlaps of
these averaged coherent states are a generating function of correlators and can
be written in terms of the Harish-Chandra-Itzykzon-Zuber (HCIZ) integral. We
show that this formula immediately leads to a computation of the normalization
of two point functions in terms of characters obtained originally in the work
of Corley, Jevicki and Ramgoolam. We also find various generalizations for
$A_{n-1}$ quivers that follow directly from other solvable integrals over
unitary groups. All of these can be computed using localization methods. When
we promote the parameters of the generating function to collective coordinates,
there is a dominant saddle that controls the effective action of these coherent
states in the regime where they describe single AdS giant gravitons. We also
discuss how to add open strings to this formulation. These will produce
calculations that rely on correlators of matrix components of unitaries in the
ensemble that is determined by the HCIZ integral to determine anomalous
dimensions. We also discuss how sphere giants arise from Grassman integrals,
how one gets a dominant saddle and how open strings are added in that case. The
fact that there is a dominant saddle helps to understand how a $1/N$ expansion
arises for open strings. We generalize the coherent state idea to study $1/4$
and $1/8$ BPS states as more general integrals over unitary groups.
