Having fired Brian Daboll on Monday, the 2-8 Giants are in the early stages of finding their next head coach. Mike Kafka will finish the season on an interim basis after a promotion from offensive coordinator. However, barring shockingly strong results from Kafka, it seems probable that Daboll’s successor will come from outside the organization.
General manager Joe Schoen, who hired Daboll in 2022, is leading the search for his replacement. Schoen and Giants ownership haven’t had “serious meetings” about the traits they want in their new head coach, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. For his part, Schoen isn’t guaranteed to remain with the organization for the long haul. He’s only under contract through 2026. The Giants will review Schoen’s work at the end of this season, but the belief around the NFL is that he’ll remain in place, Russini reports.
As for who Schoen will hire, there’s no doubt that plenty of potential candidates will come up in connection to New York’s opening in the coming weeks. The Giants “already have a shortlist of candidates,” Russini writes. It doesn’t include North Carolina’s Bill Belichick, according to Russini. Belichick issued a statement Friday saying he’s not interested in the Giants’ job or any other NFL opportunity that may come along. The Giants didn’t contact Belichick before he shot down a possible return to the pros, and it seems doubtful they were ever going to pursue him.
While Belichick isn’t in the mix, one early name to keep an eye on is Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. The soon-to-be 40-year-old could become the latest successful college coach to try his hand in the NFL.
If Freeman is interested in the job, there’s “some buzz” that the Giants may talk to him, per Dan Graziano of ESPN. Meanwhile, Dan Duggan of The Athletic regards Freeman as an early front-runner for the position, placing him behind Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and the out-of-work Mike McCarthy.
Freeman has gone 40-12 with the Fighting Irish since the former linebacker took over for the departed Brian Kelly in December 2021. He guided Notre Dame to the national championship game last season, but the team suffered a 34-23 defeat to Ohio State. Just days before Freeman & Co. lost to the Buckeyes in January, the Bears reportedly sought an interview with him. That didn’t come to fruition, though, and the Bears ended up hiring Ben Johnson.
Anarumo, a well-respected coordinator, has been a popular figure in the rumor mill since the Giants moved on from Daboll. The Staten Island native is a former Giants assistant who was a candidate for the HC job before Daboll landed it. Anarumo’s son currently works for the Giants as a pro scout.
McCarthy, 62, brings vast experience as a head coach. His teams have gone an impressive 174-112-2 in the regular season. He led the Packers from 2006-18, winning one Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers during that 13-year period, and the Cowboys from 2020-24.
In limbo with the Cowboys last winter before Jerry Jones replaced him with Brian Schottenheimer, McCarthy interviewed with Chicago and New Orleans. After he began losing ground with the Saints, who chose Kellen Moore, McCarthy withdrew as a candidate. He hasn’t found another job since then, though perhaps the Giants will look in his direction.
The Johnson pick has worked out so far for the Bears, who are 6-3 and already guaranteed a better record than last year’s 5-12 mark. If they make the right hire, the Giants may have a chance to enjoy a similar turnaround in 2026.
Why not think outside the box? Joe Judge worked out great.
Joe Judge was a “Belichick product”
Marcus Freeman is a great college HC
Yes….he’s a college coach…..that’s the point….
…yeah, because the two coaches are such totally relevant comparisons.
Personally, I’d like to see the Giants roll with Morgan Freeman as their HC. His debut locker room speech to the players could go something like this…link to movie-sounds.org
Freeman is young enough to try his hand at the next level & return if it doesn’t work out. I’ve heard the Lane Train might make his next stop at the New Jersey swamp instead of the Florida or Louisiana one’s. He would be entertaining if nothing else.
Lane already failed with Raiders so it wouldn’t be new for him like Freeman. Lane personality has not grown much since that time, don’t think pros would ride with his style and attitude long.
I think Marcus Freeman wants to be the guy to bring a national title to Notre Dame. The interest from pro teams is the ultimate leverage that Freeman can possess. Another trip to the playoffs with another win or two could lead Notre Dame to to all-in on Freeman and commit to something like a 10-year, $100 million deal with opt-outs that he can trigger after years 3, 5, or 7.
Surprised they haven’t floated the name of Lane Kiffin yet. He used to coach Jaxson Dart in college.
His pass offenses ranked last and next to last in the brief time he was HC of the Raiders so he seems like a great choice 🙂
Lane Kiffin is a good offensive mind and college coach. An NFL locker room would tune him out after 3 weeks of him trying to belittle them like college kids.
And every coach would take pleasure running the score up on him.
Kiffin’s offense thrives on a lot of stuff you couldn’t pull off in the NFL.
Brian Kelley wasn’t fired. He left Notre Dame to take his “familay” down south to LSU.
Mike McCarthy is an interesting name. I know, no one wants a retread. If he can hire the qualified coordinators and not his friends he would be the right man to lead this young team. The only problem is he likes to call the plays on offense, which unfortunately he no longer has a feel for. He I would think would be the last coach any New York Giant fan would want but is a strong leader.
Mike McCarthy used to coach the Dallas Cowboys and that’s a no-go for most Giants fans.
Brian Daboll, who got that Milli Vanilli award for “Coach of the Year”, couldn’t beat them Cowboys. Home or away.
The Giants employed Jason Garrett for multiple seasons.
Perhaps the Giants were hoping Garrett could ice his own kicker like he did with the Cowboys…link to youtube.com
Mike McCarthy is the obvious, experienced choice , quit jacking around, fire the GM, that’s where the Giants need to start, McCarthy can do a fine job coaching if they get a GM that actually knows what he’s doing
Hiring head coaches straight from the college ranks always works so well.
Yes, comments like if it doesn’t work out well he can always return to the college ranks kid of tell the story doesn’t it…for those loyal Giants fans, returning to respectability and playoffs is now or never given the track record over recent seasons being the door mat of the East….how many missteps can this franchise endure….Judge, Shurmer…..Dabol…..etc….
Yeah like former college HCs such as Paul Brown, Jimmy Johnson, Tom Coughlin, Don Coryell, Bill Parcells, Barry Switzer, Marv Levy, Bill Walsh, Dennis Green, George Seifert, Jim Moral, Sid Gillman, John Madden and Steve Mariucci…
Can you name a modern NFL coach? This isn’t the 1990’s.