As the second week of November ended, the football world was hit with a major coach firing. After a three-year stint, Brian Daboll was let go by the Giants. His three years were the longest tenure any New York Giants head coach has enjoyed since Tom Coughlin retired in 2016.
Daboll was hired due to his seemingly high offensive mind, and ability to coach and mold quarterbacks into stars. Daboll’s first NFL gig began in 2000 as a defensive coordinator in the Patriots organization under Bill Belichick. Daboll quickly shifted to the offensive side of the ball when he became a wide receivers’ coach in 2002.
Daboll bounced around the league, acting as the offensive coordinator or QB coach for the Jets, Dolphins, Chiefs, Browns, and even for Nick Saban’s national championship winning Alabama Crimson Tide team in 2017. However, his greatest achievement would come with his next team in 2018: the Buffalo Bills. Daboll would become the head offensive coordinator for the Bills, where he would work to develop a young Josh Allen.
Today, partially because of Daboll, Allen is an MVP, who in 2024 surpassed the great Jim Kelly by earning the most passing touchdowns in Bills’ history. With Allen in the pocket the Bills haven’t missed the playoffs since 2019.
Daboll’s ability to ‘craft’ Allen got the attention of New York Giants’ GM Joe Schoen. The Giants first 2019 draft pick—the sixth overall—was twenty-two year old Daniel Jones, a quarterback out of Duke coached by David Cutcliffe (the same man who coached Eli Manning when he was a Blue Devil).
Schoen saw Daboll as the guy to do it.
In spite of Daboll’s first year with the Giants in 2022 which yielded a 9-7-1 record, their first playoff berth since 2016, and their first playoff win since 2011; things have been nothing but terrible ever since.
In 2023, the Giants lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones to injury only six games into the season. It is also worth noting that in those six games Jones threw two touchdown passes compared to six interceptions.
In the 2023 offseason, the Giants made a monumental decision. With Jones’ contract up, instead of picking another quarterback, or moving up their second or third stringers, the Giants resigned Jones to a four-year, 160-million-dollar contract. The direction the Giants wanted to take was clear. Despite a rocky start to his career, the Giants had given the keys to the castle to Jones, expecting him to be the franchise quarterback for years to come.
One of Jones’ best offensive weapons, however, was the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, running back Saquon Barkley. However, at the same time they reupped Jones’ contract they released Barkley who was quickly snatched up by their divisional rival the Philadelphia Eagles.
Even with a great draft pick up in wide receiver Malik Nabers, who finished the year with 109 receptions, the second most by a rookie in a single season, the 2024 season did not go as the Giants had hoped.
Jones threw eight touchdowns compared to seven interceptions, and on November 22nd, 2024, after a 2-8 start to the season, Daniel Jones would be let go from the Giants.
And how did Saquon Barkley do that same year in Philadelphia?
Barkley had his best season in his career, where he rushed for 2,005 yards with 15 touchdowns in 16 games. The Eagles also had a 14-3 record, better than anything amassed in Barkley’s time in New York. Barkley and the Eagles capped off their magnificent regular season with a Super Bowl win over the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The losing season and the loss of their supposed franchise quarterback sent the Giants scrambling. They needed new talent, and they needed it fast.
So, in this year’s draft, the Giants attempted a complete reset.
They selected Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo, a running back, out of Arizona State University. The twenty-two year-old Dart and twenty-three year-old Skattebo brought life and energy to an old, tired Giants organization.
After an 0-3 start, Dart was finally put in to face Justin Herbert and his 3-0 Los Angeles Chargers.
Dart pulled off the upset leading the Giants to their first game since December 29th, 2024. It was a pyrrhic victory, however, as wide receiver Malik Nabers suffered an injury that will keep him out for the rest of this season.
Despite a mesmerizing 34-17 smackdown of the defending champion Eagles on Thursday Night Football, the Giants have been stunted by comeback victories and injuries.
Even though the Giants defense shut out the Denver Broncos for three quarters in week seven, the Broncos scored 33 points in the fourth quarter, squeaking past the Giants 33-32.
And that was just the start. Cam Skattebo’s ankle was dislocated in Big Blue’s rematch against the Eagles, sidelining him for the rest of the season. The Giants also blew a 20-10 fourth quarter lead against the Bears. In that same game, Dart suffered a concussion and hasn’t returned since.
That was it. With a 2-8 start to the season, Daboll’s time in NY was over.
However, Daboll’s firing has ultimately been divisive. Some people think with all his weapons gone; there’s good reason for their recent losses.
Mike Kafka, previously the offensive coordinator, is now the acting interim head coach.
After Wilson’s fourth loss of the season in Chicago, and with Dart ruled out, third string QB Jameis Winston was named starting quarterback for the New York Giants. In his debut with the Giants against the Packers, he was sacked before being able to unload a hail Mary, losing the game 20-27, and putting the Giants record at 2-9
In a big market like New York, losing isn’t an option. It’s the same reason so much pressure is put on the Yankees to win the World Series, for the Celtics to win the finals, or for the Montreal Canadiens to hoist the Stanley cup.
For fans, winning isn’t a possibility. It’s an expectation. And since 2011 the Giants are yet to meet that expectation.
Now, the expectation is loss. While the firing of Daboll may be painted as the “fresh spark and change” that will save the Giants, they continue to be unable to grapple with the weight of their competition. Upper management got rid of Barkley, and despite Daboll being the person you see on the TV screen, he’s not the only one at fault.
Daniel Jones, “The (supposed) Bust” who threw 10 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions across his last two years in New York—was painted as the virus, poisoning the organization—just like Daboll.
But that same Daniel Jones has led the Indianapolis Colts to an 8-2 record, tied for best in the league.
However Giants’ Front Office may try to paint it, it seems like New York is the virus, and once you leave, you’re cured of the disease, not the other way around.
Before Daboll there was Jones to blame, and before Jones it was the GM Dave Gettleman.
In spite of having gotten rid of all of these problems, the Giants have yet to find a solution.