NFL Coaching News: New York Giants Hiring John Harbaugh as Head Coach

• In NFL coaching news, the New York Giants are hiring John Harbaugh as their next head coach
• The desperate Giants were aggressive, not wanting Harbaugh to interview with other teams
• Harbaugh had myriad options after being surprisingly fired by the Ravens following their disappointing season
• Both sides get what they want and it signifies a dramatic change in how the Giants operate

The Giants “Couldn’t Let Harbaugh Leave the Building,” and They Didn’t

Once the Ravens fired Harbaugh, he vaulted to the top of the list for teams looking for a new and proven leader. Having fired Brian Daboll after Week 10 and with interim coach Mike Kafka not distinguishing himself and not having the necessary experience or name recognition to sell to an enraged and increasingly apathetic fan base, the Giants needed to hire someone they could present as a winner.

That someone was Harbaugh.

Still, with the number of suitors Harbaugh had and the likelihood that he could not only name his price, but also demand which assistants he could hire and get substantial influence on the roster, the Giants needed to formulate a package to satisfy him, simultaneously walking back their longtime method of operation.

The most prevalent theme was that the Giants did not want to let Harbaugh leave the building without agreeing to terms.

The daylong rhetoric sounded as though they had kidnapped his entire family and had them in a cage over a trap that Dr. Evil (“sharks with laser beams attached to their heads”) conjured, only to be released when he agreed to coach the team.

Initially, it was believed that Harbaugh wanted to hear out the Falcons because of his relationship with their new President of Football Operations, Matt Ryan. But relationships aside, if the Giants were giving him whatever he wanted, wasting his and the Falcons’ time made little sense.

What This Means for Harbaugh

Regardless of Harbaugh’s tenure with the Ravens and how much respect owner Steve Bisciotti has for him, the head coach was not getting de facto GM powers no matter how long he was there and how many times he brought them to the playoffs.

In fact, based on Bisciotti’s comments in his press conference that Harbaugh would have stayed on as Ravens coach “for a week” had they beaten the Steelers, it sounded like Harbaugh was getting fired unless the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

Change can be a positive for teams and coaches.

He’d been there a long time. Probably too long. Now, Harbaugh is getting a lot of money to coach the Giants. He’s getting the coaches he wants. He’s walking into a situation that is ready-made to win at least 10 games next year and make the playoffs. It’s an iconic franchise where, if he wins, he’ll be a hero throughout New York and much of New Jersey.

And he’s probably going to get about as much authority in roster construction as any coach in the league this side of Sean Payton with the Broncos.

The Giants Had No Choice but to Change

The Giants always had a separation of powers.

For the Giants, the GM handles the GM duties. The head coach handles the coaching duties.

Going back to the George Young days, this was a point of contention with both Bill Parcells and Dan Reeves. The decorated coaches wanted greater influence in the draft, with trades, and free agency.

They didn’t get it.

That philosophy extended to Ernie Accorsi/Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin.

Parcells is a Hall of Famer. Reeves and Coughlin should be Hall of Famers. But so is Young. Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have stuck to that template for a simple reason: it worked.

But it also led, in part, to Parcells and Reeves leaving. It irritated Coughlin, who was eventually forced out.

After Coughlin, the Giants cycled through Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, and Brian Daboll. Only Shurmur had head coaching experience. That was two years for the Browns in which he went 9-23.

His record in two years as head coach of the Giants was…9-23.

Dave Gettleman was the GM during those years.

After that, they hired Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen and hired former Bills offensive coordinator and former Bill Belichick assistant Daboll.

Like McAdoo, Daboll had one playoff year, and then the team came apart.

The Giants axed Daboll at midseason and retained Schoen. They were linked to hot assistant coaches Chris Shula, Jeff Hafley (who’s from New Jersey), Brian Flores, and former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Hiring any of them would have been repeating the process of what has failed for a decade: an untested assistant or failed head coach who could fall flat on his face and, given the Giants’ recent history, probably would.

They could not make that mistake again.

With a stud young QB Jaxson Dart, a top-tier talent in wide receiver Malik Nabors, a solid running back Tyrone Tracy, an exciting bowling ball back in Cam Skattebo, and an undisciplined though talented edge rusher in Abdul Carter, a tweak here and there, and the Giants are a playoff team.

With Carter, suffice it to say the reported nonsense that went on with him under Daboll and Kafka will not happen with Harbaugh, as the coach will not tolerate it. Nor will the veteran “character” players he’ll bring in, who will get in Carter’s face.

Given their issues and how atrocious they’ve been for a decade-plus, they couldn’t risk an unproven coach. Their best option pre-Harbaugh was Mike McCarthy.

But McCarthy was not getting personnel say.

If they were hiring Harbaugh, the old way of doing business was not going to cut it for the Giants. Schoen’s status was in question before the Giants announced they were retaining him. But based on Harbaugh’s reported contract being worth as much as $100 million and reputation alone, who’s getting final say here?

The Giants are not just bad. They’re an embarrassment. And that means major change.

That change is Harbaugh.

When the odds for NFL 2026 come out, there will be an array of options regarding the Giants and Harbaugh. Betting on a marked improvement is an easy one. The question is, how much better can the decorated coach make them in the short term?

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