The New York Giants head into a very important offseason with a gaping hole on the sideline. Head coach Brian Daboll was fired following the Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears that dropped the G-Men to 2-8. OC Mike Kafka took over on an interim basis and the Giants went 2-5 on his watch.
It is always interesting when the coach bears the brunt of the blame and his assistants are also let go, but the front office gets to hang around. That’s the case here with the Giants, as GM Joe Schoen kept his job and has the opportunity to hire his second head coach. Daboll actually took the team to the postseason in his first year with a 9-7-1 record and even won a playoff game, but it’s a results-based business and the results have been bad since.
Whoever gets the job inherits a toolsy, dual-threat QB in Jaxson Dart, a running back who will never shy away from contact, one of the game’s elite wide receivers, and a defense in need of a shake-up.
DraftKings Sportsbook has odds posted for the next Giants head coach and here they are as of Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Giants Next Head Coach Odds
- John Harbaugh -150
- Kevin Stefanski +200
- Mike McCarthy +600
- Jeff Hafley +850
- Kliff Kingsbury +950
- Chris Shula +1200
- Klint Kubiak +1400
- Jesse Minter +1400
- Brian Flores +1600
- Vance Joseph +1800
- Steve Spagnuolo +2200
- Lou Anarumo +2800
- Antonio Pierce +3000
- Mike Kafka +3000
- Robert Saleh +3000
- Joe Brady +3000
- Zac Taylor +3000
- Jon Gruden +3000
- Matt Burke +3500
- Josh Grizzard +4000
- Bill Belichick +4000
- Mike Tomlin +4000
- Josh McCown +4000
- Matt Nagy +4000
- Jim Schwartz +4000
- Jeff Brohm +4000
The 46-year-old Schoen started his career with the Panthers as an area scout and then went to the Dolphins to serve as a national scout. After three seasons in the Miami front office, he was the assistant general manager in Buffalo from 2017-21, hence the connection with Daboll. Usually you want to examine potential connections to see if it can shed some light on the short list for a GM. With this hiring cycle, there really aren’t many for the Giants.
Let’s look at the top five candidates per the odds and see if there’s a worthwhile bet in the bunch:
(updated from initial post to include John Harbaugh’s availability and the adjusted odds as a result)
John Harbaugh -150
Initially when this article was written on Monday night, Harbaugh was +2000. With his Tuesday firing, Harbaugh shot to the top of the odds board. As I wrote about with the other candidates below prior to Harbaugh’s dismissal, I really do believe that Schoen wants a guy with previous NFL head coaching experience and Harbaugh checks that box in a big way. I’m not sure he should be the odds-on favorite, as he has a ton of suitors at this stage of the game and Stefanski was already en route for an interview when the Harbaugh news broke.
With perhaps more attractive jobs out there, are the Giants going to be at the top of Harbaugh’s options?
Kevin Stefanski +200
Stefanski hadn’t even been fired and it was being reported that the Giants would be very interested if he were to be available. As it turns out, he is, and Stefanski’s balanced demeanor could work out well in a cutthroat media market like New York. He’s also got plenty of head coaching experience and has been viewed as something of an offensive guru, which feels like something Schoen and owners John Mara and Steve Tisch would be interested in given the composition of the roster.
Easy call to be the original favorite and still may very well get the job.
Mike McCarthy +650
Could McCarthy find his way back to the NFC East? McCarthy can definitely be the adult in the room with some big personalities on the offensive side and does check the box as an offensive-minded guy if Schoen and his staff will look to go that route again. He’s also got extensive head coaching experience if that does matter to the decision-makers in this equation. Also, a year away from the sidelines for the 62-year-old may have relit that competitive fire.
Of the single-digit odds, this is the one worthy of consideration in my mind. Stefanski’s price isn’t high enough and it’s a fairly safe hire for Schoen, who has self-preservation at the forefront of his mind right now.
Jeff Hafley +850
It would be a homecoming for Hafley, a native of Montvale, NJ. Schoen tried to go the offensive route with Daboll and Hafley, a longtime defensive assistant who is the Packers defensive coordinator at present, would represent a change of pace in that regard. Schoen and Hafley could then collaborate on an offensive coordinator, possibly Luke Getsy, who is currently on Matt LaFleur’s staff and was the OC of the Bears in 2022-23 and the Raiders in 2024. While Getsy has worked a lot with QBs, he has produced strong running games at the NFL and college levels, something that could help Schoen erase the memory of letting Saquon Barkley walk.
Personally, I don’t think Schoen will make another hire without NFL head coaching experience. Hafley was the head coach at Boston College and left to be Green Bay’s DC after posting just a 22-26 record.
Kliff Kingsbury (+950)
Kingsbury could be a really fascinating hire, but I think it’ll all come down to what he thinks of Dart. He’s an offensive-minded guy with NFL head coaching experience, which I do believe are attractive qualities to Schoen and the others involved in this decision. He also knows the NFC East quite well, which could be another positive for the Giants. I don’t think he’s worth a bet. If it isn’t Harbaugh, it’s probably Stefanski if the Giants want those two boxes I mentioned checked, as Stefanski is a more experienced, more accomplished version of that type of coach.
Chris Shula +1200
If you ask me, even though Hafley is a New Jersey native and has been talked about a bit already with the Giants job, Shula should be higher on the list for every team, including the Giants. Maybe Hafley does have the goods to be a head coach in the NFL and he has at least been one at the collegiate level. Shula looks like another branch of the Sean McVay coaching tree that will be fawned over during this hiring cycle. The 39-year-old Miami native also spent a year at John Carroll University in University Heights, where the stadium bears his grandfather’s name.
Shula checks all the boxes. NFL bloodline. McVay. Young. He’s 39 years old and teams will want the next Mike Macdonald. But, I’m not sure Schoen wants to go the defensive route or take a fairly big swing with a somewhat unproven guy given how his first hire failed.
Potential Long Shots for Giants Next Head Coach
Vance Joseph +1800
Joseph did not work out as a head coach for the first time with the Broncos in 2017-18, but he’s found a lot of success as a defensive coordinator, including the last three seasons with the Broncos. There are incidents of sexual assault and harassment in Joseph’s past, back in 2004 as the University of Colorado’s defensive backs coach. Those were brought up in 2017 when he was hired as the Broncos coach and would inevitably be brought up again by the New York media if he were to be hired. It probably wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for Schoen, Mara, and Tisch, but it’s at least a thought.
Personally, I don’t believe that Joseph is near the top of the list here, but an interview wouldn’t be surprising, especially with the Rooney Rule.
Todd Monken was initially listed here, but with Harbaugh available, it is very unlikely that he is an option and he’s not even listed among the top 25 on the odds board.
