Mike Kafka, who spent the final seven games of the 2025 season in the role of interim head coach for the New York Giants, was in an awkward position on Monday. Kafka, who doesn’t know if he will be the head coach next season, the offensive coordinator, fired, or will end up getting an offer to work elsewhere, was trotted out by the Giants to speak a hungry media waiting anxiously to grill GM Joe Schoen.
Kafka, basically, was served up as the appetizer.
As he has done everything else in the two months since taking over from the fired Brian Daboll, Kafka handled the situation with grace.
Kafka has been with the Giants since being named offensive coordinator before the 2022 season. There has been more bad than good, but you wouldn’t have guessed that from Kafka’s appreciative tone.
“I love working here. I love working for Mr. Mara and Mr. Tisch. This family’s unbelievable, this ownership group is unbelievable, this city is unbelievable. The team, the players, the coaches, the staff, I really, really love it here,” Kafka said. “So, I’m going to continue to enjoy it till they tell me I can’t anymore.
“So again, it’s been a pleasure and an honor to be in this position, in this role. It’s a privilege, not a right, and I understand that. One thing I can say is I gave it everything I had and will continue to do that for this organization as long as they have me.”
Kafka said “I do plan on interviewing” when asked about the Giants’ full-time head coaching position.
GM Joe Schoen said Monday that Kafka, 2-5 in his seven-game stint, had earned an interview.
“He’s going to get an interview, and he’s done a good job,” Schoen said. “He’s been on the interview for the last several weeks. Enjoyed working with Mike. His leadership offensively, he was able to still handle the play calling. I believe we ended up 13th in the league in offense. I think we were 30th last year. Fifth in the run. Fifth in the league in rushing. So, it was impressive.
“You put on that head coaching hat, and now you’ve got to evaluate the defense, too. Obviously made a change with Shane (Bowen), that’s difficult to do, and he handled all that very well, and obviously impressive, two wins down the stretch here.”
Kafka has interviewed for head-coaching openings in every offseason since coming to the Giants. Being in that role for the past two months has made him “much more confident” that it is a role he can handle. And wants to handle.
“I’m very proud of the work I did here,” Kafka said. “Obviously, from a results wise, we need to get a few more wins. But I’m really proud of how our guys responded, really proud of our coaching staff, everyone working together towards a common goal and then finishing the season strong with two great wins.
“It was a great experience, a great learning experience. I certainly learned a lot about myself, certainly learned about others, leadership, the game. You’re asked to do different responsibilities, more game management, operating with the special teams, operating with the defense a little bit more. So, those are all great experiences and absolutely made me much more confident in my abilities to be a head coach.”
Now, like everyone else, Kafka will have to wait to see what the Giants do.
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