The New York Giants are at a crossroads in the history of their franchise.
The presence of quarterback Jaxson Dart makes the Giants’ current head coaching search incredibly consequential. The Giants obviously need to get the head coaching decision right, and finding a coach who can lead the team as well as develop Dart is crucial. The Giants simply can’t afford to waste Dart’s potential, nor squander the years of his rookie contract.
To that end, much of the conversation has shifted from “rising young coordinators” to “experienced leaders”.
Last week we asked you which currently-employed head coach you would want if they became available. This week, we want to know which current coordinator with head coaching experience you’d want to be the Giants’ next head coach.
- Steve Spagnuolo – The Giants twice-former defensive coordinator is beloved around the Giants’ facilities and fan base. He also happens to come with four Super Bowl rings (and has coached 7 Super Bowl defenses) and a reputation as one of the keenest defensive minds in the NFL. Spags failed as the Rams’ head coach, but that was over a decade ago and he’s spent the last six years under Andy Reid.
- Kliff Kingsbury – Kingsbury’s NFL coaching career has been a mixed bag. He got off to a poor start with a 5-10-1 first year, but improved to 8-8 and then 10-6 over his next two seasons, but he was fired after a 4-13 season in 2022. He re-emerged as the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator last year after a year as an “offensive analyst” at USC. Kingsbury has earned a reputation as a versatile play caller who designed his offenses around the strengths of young quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Jayden Daniels. He’s also fostered one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL over the last two years.
- Matt Nagy – Nagy is currently the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator and has received praise for both his leadership as well as his creativity as an offensive mind. Nagy is widely regarded as a “players’ coach” and his personality has been credited for helping to keep locker rooms together in tough stretches. Schematically, he prefers a blend of Reid-style West Coast concepts and Air Raid concepts, and his use of RPOs and bootleg rollouts could fit well with Dart’s strengths as a passer. Like Kingsbury, Nagy has experience with young quarterbacks.
- Arthur Smith – When Jay Glazer drops a name, it’s best to pay attention. The Steelers’ offensive coordinator isn’t a sexy name right now, and his 3-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons yielded three consecutive 7-10 seasons. However, Smith seems to be very highly thought of around the NFL and there seems to be a lot of respect for his offensive acumen. Smith has been described as a distant off-shoot of the Kyle Shanahan tree, and does blend some Shanahan-style play-action with his favored outside-zone run game. The bigger question is whether Smith can command a locker room and foster Dart’s development.
- Vance Joseph – Joseph only has two years’ experience as ahead coach, going 5-11 in 2017 and 6-10 in 2018 as the head coach of the Denver Broncos. However, Joseph returned to the Broncos in 2024 as their defensive coordinator and has transformed the Denver defense into one of the fiercest in the NFL. His defenses use a variety of uncommon alignments and games up front to create havoc on the opposing offense. Not only are his defenses aggressive and productive, they’re very well coached. Joseph could turn the Giants’ defense into an unholy terror with the talent already on the roster. However, his ability to coach a whole team as well as develop a young quarterback is largely unknown at this point.
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