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Will Giants fire Brian Daboll? Top coaching candidates to replace him

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The New York Giants are looking ahead to another losing season and are poised to face a tough question about the future of their franchise during the 2025 NFL season.

Should the team give the duo of head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen another season to get things right, or is it time for new leadership?

Daboll took the Giants to the playoffs in his first year as head coach with a 9-7-1 record and was named AP Coach of the Year for his efforts. Since then, New York hasn’t performed nearly as well, and quarterback Daniel Jones — who Schoen rewarded with a four-year, $160 million contract after the 2022 NFL season — has had a particularly tough time.

That has led to a lot of speculation that Daboll and Schoen could get the boot, despite Giants owner John Mara calling for patience with the two.

“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said on Oct. 27 at the debut of an NFL Films production about his father, Wellington Mara, according to CBS Sports. “But I’m going to say one thing: We’re not making any changes this season and I don’t expect any changes this offseason either.”

Of course, NFL owners are notorious for changing course. Mara could decide to part ways with Daboll if he sees him as part of the problem, even if the more likely scenario is that Jones becomes the scapegoat for the Giants’ offensive struggles.

Who could the Giants target if Mara decides to pull the plug on the Daboll era? There are plenty of candidates who would likely intrigue the Giants, including one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.

Bill Belichick

It seems likely that Belichick will pursue a return to the NFL in 2025 after spending the 2024 season working in various media jobs, and the Giants are a perfect fit for him. The veteran Patriots coach has close ties to the Giants organization. He spent the 1979-90 seasons with the team, eventually becoming the defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells.

Could that be enough to convince Mara to hire Belichick? Maybe, especially given the Giants owner’s admitted preference for long-term coaching stability. The only question is whether Belichick, 72, would make the most of a roster still looking for a franchise quarterback or whether the veteran coach would post a record similar to the one he has had during his career without Tom Brady (85-102).

Ben Johnson

Johnson has been one of the hottest coaching candidates in recent recruiting cycles. He was rumored to be among the top candidates for several jobs in 2024 before deciding to return to Detroit.

“I like what we’ve built here, starting with the ownership, the head coach and the GM,” Johnson explained of his decision, according to NFL.com. “We have a great group of guys in the locker room and I want to reap the benefits.”

That said, Johnson believes he will leave the Lions at some point. The 38-year-old could simply wait for the right opportunity to do so. Maybe that would happen in New York, where Johnson could focus on bringing along a young quarterback like Jared Goff, who has blossomed into one of the NFL’s most accurate quarterbacks under Johnson’s tutelage.

Bobby Slowik

Slowik, 37, is one of the rising offensive coaching candidates who believes they will eventually get a job. He helped C.J. Stroud produce one of the best rookie seasons in NFL history – Stroud completed 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions – in his first season as offensive coordinator. Things haven’t been as smooth in 2024, but Slowik has helped the Texans post a 6-3 record despite injuries to the team’s top two receivers.

Slowik was part of Washington’s legendary staff under Mike Shanahan in 2013 and has recently worked under two successful NFL head coaches, Kyle Shanahan and DeMeco Ryans. The Giants should see the upside in Slowik and could view him as the ideal candidate to develop the quarterback they have selected as Jones’ successor.

Cliff Kingsbury

The downside to hiring Kingsbury is that he has already had a stint as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He found modest success with an 11-6 season in 2021 but saw the wheels fall off quickly, ending his four-year stint with a 28-37-1 record and twice having offenses that were below league average in terms of scoring and yards per game. .

The advantage? Kingsbury is only 45 and is considered a bright, attacking mind. He has also built an offense that has allowed Jayden Daniels to seamlessly transition to the NFL, as the No. 2 overall pick has posted a 7-2 record while completing 71.5% of his passes for 1,945 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

Kingsbury’s spread offense is considered quarterback-friendly, especially for young quarterbacks transitioning to the NFL. If the Giants draft a young signal caller, they could see Kingsbury as the ideal candidate to build a functioning offense around him, especially early in the quarterback’s career. That, plus the prospect of poaching Kingsbury from a division rival, should put him in play for the Giants.

Todd Monken

Monken, 58, returned to the NFL in 2023 after spending three years at Georgia and transformed the Ravens’ offense from a run-heavy attack to a balanced one. The 58-year-old likes to use a vertical passing attack, which suits playmakers like Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews. His ability to integrate (and rejuvenate) Derrick Henry in 2024 has allowed Baltimore to field one of the NFL’s best offenses as it looks to make a Super Bowl run.

The Giants have a few weapons, especially Malik Nabers, who could fit well in Monken’s offense. He might even be able to get the most out of 2023 third-round pick Jalin Hyatt, so his ability to build a quality passing game around New York’s next quarterback would immediately make him a candidate for the head coaching position of the Giants.

Liam Coen

Many believed Baker Mayfield would step back in 2024 after losing offensive coordinator Dave Canales, who was hired to coach the Carolina Panthers. Instead, Mayfield has continued to play at a high level. He led the NFL with 23 passing touchdowns through nine weeks and looked every bit like a quality NFL starter.

Coen deserves a lot of praise for this. The 38-year-old Sean McVay disciple has brought the principles of the Rams coach’s highly successful offense to the Buccaneers, and the pre-snap move has allowed Mayfield to consistently have wide-open receivers all season. That offensive plan should make Coen a hot commodity and make him an attractive option for the G-Men.

Brian Flores

Flores is one of the brightest defensive minds in the game and has turned Minnesota’s defense from a laughing stock to an opportunistic takedown machine. His defensive scheme – which often requires him to blitz and lead many players to the line of scrimmage before a few fall into coverage – is difficult for quarterbacks to read, and he does a great job of putting his most talented players in roles that fit their skills.

The Giants would likely salivate at the thought of adding Flores, 43, to coach a stop unit that already has the makings of a top-level defense with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence. That’s part of why they interviewed the former Miami Dolphins coach, who posted a 24-25 record during his three years in Miami, in 2022 before hiring Daboll.

The only question is whether New York would be willing to hire a defensive coach to replace Jones, or if they would rather go the offensive route.

Jesse Munter

Minter is another young defensive coach who has done the yeoman’s job on the Chargers’ defense. In 2024, the Chargers ranked 28th in yards allowed and 24th in points allowed. This year, they ranked eighth in yards allowed and have the NFL’s top scoring defense in Week 10.

How did Minter do it? The 41-year-old has simply gotten players like Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Derwin James and more to play at their talent level. The Chargers always had a strong-looking defense on paper, but that never materialized under Brandon Staley.

Nevertheless, NFL teams will take note of what Minter has accomplished, especially given the success of his college defense at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. That should land Minter some interviews, and the Giants should at least kick one of the better young defensive minds into the game.

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