Bye Bye Brian

New York Giants Fire Head Coach Brian Daboll

Photo from Flickr / CC BY-SA 4.0

On the morning of Monday, Nov. 10, the New York Giants decided to change up the future of the organization by firing head coach Brian Daboll. The move by the Giants was a surprise to many fans as Daboll was expected to be the coach throughout the entirety of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s development. However, after an abysmal season and many late game losses, Giants general manager Joe Schoen decided it was best to fire Daboll.

Daboll’s career with the Giants started off with low expectations after the Giants fully cleaned house following the 2021 season and hired Schoen as the general manager, who then chose Daboll as the head coach. Both men came from the Buffalo Bills and had built up a Super Bowl-contending squad for years to come. This was exactly what the Giants wanted, to bring a championship to the Meadowlands and return to what they were in the previous decade, when they won Super Bowl XLVI over the New England Patriots in the 2011-12 season. After Daboll’s first season, this goal seemed within reach. Daboll led the New York Giants to a surprising 9-7-1 record and even had the Giants clinch their first playoff berth since 2016. The great season for the team did not stop there, as the Giants defeated the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That win was the Giants’ first playoff win since the Super Bowl in the 2011-12 season. After the amazing season and playoff win, Daboll was crowned as the Coach of the Year for the 2022 season and left Giants fans with great expectations for the future.

After that amazing year, Daboll’s expectations were much higher and the Giants were projected to have a great season. However, the Giants struggled and finished the season 6-11, and many weaknesses were shown. One of those being how the Giants did not win a game whenever Saquon Barkley was not the team's leading rusher. This meant that if teams were able to stop Barkley, they were guaranteed a win. This problem ended up becoming an even bigger issue after the 2023 season. During that offseason, Barkley left in free agency and signed with the Giants arch rival the Philadelphia Eagles. The difference without Barkley showed how bad the Giants were, as the team only eclipsed 100+ rushing yards in a game three times in the 2024 season. Another bigger issue became apparent during that year: quarterback Daniel Jones struggled immensely. After such a bad season for Jones, even causing him to get benched, the team parted ways with him after signing him to a four-year, 160-million-dollar contract a year prior. Even then, the Giants finished the season the worst they had ever had in the Daboll era, finishing 3-14. This gave the Giants a high pick in the draft, and after a big trade on draft day, the Giants were able to acquire their quarterback of the future, Jaxson Dart.

Going into the 2025 season, the team’s expectations were very low. This year was considered a development year so the Giants could become a powerhouse in the future. However, the development of Dart’s progression changed quickly, as current quarterback Russel Wilson was playing terribly and the Giants started off 0-3. This led to Daboll making the tough decision to start the rookie Dart and rush his progression. However, this decision worked out in Daboll’s favor, as Dart led the team to their first win and they routed the Los Angeles Chargers in week 4. With that win, and the team’s success in the latter weeks, it seemed extremely unlikely that the Giants would make any changes. However, this assumption would then change three weeks later after the Giants played the Denver Broncos. In this game the Giants were leading 26-8 with 10 minutes left in the game, but disaster struck as the Giants blew the game and ended up losing 33-32 on a walk off field goal. This game was considered a fluke, but then it happened again in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears. The Giants were up with four minutes left, but again after bad coaching the Giants lost the game 24-20. After these bad performances, Schoen fired the man who he had once hired.

The Giants currently have offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as the interim head coach as the team looks to find Daboll’s replacement.