2026 is already shaping up to be the most exciting offseason in quite some time for the New York Giants.
Four years ago, in 2022, the Giants hired Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll to modernize the franchise as well as try to salvage Daniel Jones as the team’s franchise quarterback. It was an exciting time, full of new possibilities, but this year seems different.
This feels like the Giants are in the hunt for a “Once In A Decade” free agent. In a way, they are.
The Giants are in the middle of a wide-ranging search for their next head coach, having reached out to eight different former head coaches, as well as a pair (as of this writing) of highly respected assistants. But really, the Giants’ coaching search seems like it’s coming down to two men: Former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Those two bring experience and the promise of getting the Giants’ roster to play up to its talent level.
Harbaugh is, by far, the more experienced coach and has also been far more successful. His resume is basically unmatched by any other coaching candidate this year, and the Baltimore Ravens’ decision to fire him sent a seismic shock through the NFL landscape.
Stefanski, on the other hand, is younger and widely regarded as an offensive mind. His background is diverse, and he might be the man best suited to developing Jaxson Dart into the very best quarterback he could be.
Both men are highly sought after, and the Giants have pursued them with impressive urgency. They wasted no time in bringing Stefanski to New York for dinner and an interview, and were generally considered to be the team most heavily pursuing Harbaugh.
(At least until the Dolphins fired now-former head coach Mike McDaniel.)
So which one should the Giants hire, and can he execute a one-year turnaround and make the Giants competitive in 2026? We asked you that question in this week’s survey, and we also decided to offer our thoughts in a staff roundtable.
What do Giants’ fans say?
Before we even get to Giants fans in particular, a national poll among all fans on SB Nation ranked the Giants as the most attractive option among the teams with an opening.
Granted, this was conducted before the Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh and the Miami Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel. For most candidates the Ravens are probably the top job, however the fact that they’re definitively out on Harbaugh has them flying under the radar. Likewise, the fact that the Giants are generally considered the favorite to land Harbaugh (particularly after the Dolphins hired Jon-Eric Sullivan as their next GM) positions the Giants as the drivers in this year’s coaching search.
It’s widely believed that the quality of their opening means that Giants will have their pick of the coaching candidates, and this week we asked you whether you believed John Harbaugh or former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski should be the Giants’ top target. Nearly four in five Giants fans want Harbaugh.
It’s almost interesting that the outcome isn’t even more one-sided, given Harbaugh’s resume and reputation. That, I think, speaks to Stefanski’s ability as a coach and how well he’s perceived considering he was in an impossible situation in Cleveland.
We also asked you whether you believe that the Giants have the talent to execute a quick turnaround and be competitive with a new coach.
Taken as a whole, 95% of fans believe that a push for the postseason (or even a postseason run) is in sight. Nearly 40% of fans believe the Giants have the talent on the roster to do so right now, and another 57% believe they can get their after adding a couple pieces in Free Agency and the Draft.
All in all, it makes sense that fan confidence continues to rise. Last week, 50% of fans were confident that the team is headed in the right direction, and confidence has jumped again now that the Giants’ coaching search is in full swing.
The hope is that selecting the right coach is the first step to the Giants being one of the teams playing this weekend. It’s also worth mentioning that despite making the playoffs, the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, or Buffalo Bills could opt to move on from their respective head coach if they lose this weekend. You can visit FanDuel Sportsbook for the odds on the relevant games, and how likely those teams are to complicate the Giants’ coaching search.
Now, let’s see what the Big Blue View staff thinks about the search.
Staff roundtable
Chris Pflum
When we asked this question on the emergency podcast when Brian Daboll was fired, I was in the camp of Kevin Stefanski being my easy first choice. That, however, was contingent on neither Mike Tomlin nor John Harbaugh becoming available, both of which seemed like a long shot at the time.
Well, now Harbaugh is available, and he jumps into my top spot. I do think the Giants — and Jaxson Dart — would be in good hands either way.
However, Harbaugh has a reputation as a detail-oriented coach who’s willing to hold even star players to account. Discipline has been a problem for the Giants, and the players seem to want a coach who will push them to be their best selves. Likewise, I also appreciate how Harbaugh responded after the season-ending missed kick. He didn’t shout or blow up on the sideline; he comforted a rookie after he screwed up in the biggest moment of his young career.
Finally, Harbaugh has a history of assembling quality coaching staffs, with the demeanor to hold them together. After the 2022 season, the Giants’ biggest strength seemed to be their coaching staff; however, Brian Daboll’s volatility and personality conflicts undermined that strength. I like the fact that Harbaugh wouldn’t be his own offensive or defensive coordinator and could instead hire the best one to fit the personnel. I’ve been saying all year that Jaxson Dart’s development is paramount, and the potential to retain Mike Kafka under Harbaugh to keep developing Dart is enticing. Likewise, possibly hiring Antonio Pierce, Raheem Morris, or Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator is exciting.
If, for some reason, the Giants don’t hire either man, I think Vance Joseph is my preferred option. Not only does he have a great reputation as a leader, but pairing him with Kafka or perhaps Davis Webb remains possible.
Nick Falato
The New York Giants desperately need stability. Someone who can instill a winning culture based on football fundamentals, management, and simple leadership traits like accountability. Players echoed this sentiment after the firing of Brian Daboll. As tired as it’s becoming to say, it is correct — the Giants have a young nucleus of players, many who possess the desired work ethic to be great. That young group must be guided correctly.
This, along with an extensive track record of success, leads me to John Harbaugh, my number one choice for head coach. Harbaugh has never had back-to-back losing seasons, and he’s a coach in HIGH demand around the NFL. It’s not often that a successful coach is let go by their team; Andy Reid found himself in that situation after the 2012 season with the Eagles, and the Kansas City Chiefs were the beneficiaries.
Harbaugh is more of the CEO type, which makes the hiring of the coordinators paramount. Kevin Stefanski found success in Cleveland, which is very rare. I do like the idea of Stefanski’s offense with the Giants’ young offensive weapons. Stefanski is 20 years younger (63 vs. 43) and is a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, while dealing with an absolute ownership fiasco over the DeShaun Watson situation.
Harbaugh and Stefanski are my No. 1 and No. 2 candidates, with the caveat being my lack of knowledge when it comes to many of the coordinators. I like what Klint Kubiak has done with Seattle; I like that he’s worked with Stefanski, Kyle Shanahan, and his father, Gary. Chris Shula has done well with his defense in Los Angeles, but I don’t fully know either’s leadership traits. Still, if the Giants deemed them worthy, I would be forced to trust their judgment, something that has failed us many times.
The names pitched before the end of the season – Matt Nagy, Arthur Smith, and Mike McCarthy did not inspire me much. McCarthy isn’t the worst candidate, but I prefer Harbaugh to McCarthy, who — in his own right — has a sustained track record of success that was tied to Aaron Rodgers. McCarthy’s stint in Dallas wasn’t as impressive. For me, and many others, Harbaugh is the choice.
Tony DelGenio
That we are considering these two coaches for this question is ironic. Stefanski was the head coach of the “new” Cleveland Browns, an expansion franchise that has been woebegone for most of its history. The “new” Browns have had only four winning seasons since their creation in 1999. Two of those four winning seasons were authored by Kevin Stefanski. You’d think owner Jimmy Haslam would have been happy with that progress. Instead, he mortgaged the team’s future in perhaps the worst trade in NFL history for Deshaun Watson. Stefanski has had little to work with since then, and unsurprisingly, the Browns have cratered.
Harbaugh was the head coach of the “old” Cleveland Browns, a.k.a. the Baltimore Ravens, for much of their history. The Ravens have had only 6 losing seasons since their Super Bowl victory over the Giants in the 2000 season. Harbaugh is only the third head coach in the Ravens’ history. He can pick his landing spot.
The bottom line: Both are very good coaches, one blessed to head a great franchise and one cursed to head a terrible franchise. Either would be an improvement over what the Giants have had for the past decade. Harbaugh is my first choice, but he will be able to pick his landing spot, probably Miami, where he’ll be given everything he wants, which the Giants’ ownership will not. Stefanski will have fewer options, but more than one. He’ll accept the Giants’ offer because he’ll see Jaxson Dart as a step up from any QB he’s ever coached, because the Giants’ pass rushers will soothe his mourning over losing Myles Garrett, and because he’ll work well with Joe Schoen and Giants ownership. Stefanski will escape the nightmare in Cleveland and rehabilitate his legacy. The 2026 Giants make the playoffs as a Wild Card.
David Hartman
When the Giants made their last head coach hire (Brian Daboll, 2022), it wasn’t clear if the long-term answer at QB was on the roster. This time around, Jaxson Dart showed enough poise, promise, arm talent, and overall skill in his rookie year that it’s pretty safe to say the QB is in place, on a cheap rookie deal. That, plus some other nice roster pieces and the fifth draft pick, makes the Giants one of the most attractive vacancies this cycle and gives them an advantage to land their guy.
But who should that be? I agree with the expectation that it will be a proven Head Coach and not a coordinator. Daboll was a coordinator, and that didn’t work out, and ownership and the fans are going to be impatient after the last three seasons of losing. As bad as Big Blue has been since 2022, the expectation is that this team can be turned into a winner fairly quickly.
I like both John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski, and would be thrilled with either one. I think they’re far more attractive candidates than the rest. Given the age difference (63 vs. 43), I slightly prefer Stefanski, even though Harbaugh has had more success and experience. I also think he’ll come a little cheaper and maybe with fewer demands and less concerns about what happens if the GM is gone after this season. Maybe it’s a copout, but my answer is they MUST (not should, but must) get one of those two candidates.
James Hickey
The first choice for the Giants is no longer there’s to make. The conversation really begins and ends on whether John Harbaugh wants to coach Jaxson Dart or rebuild the Dolphins in Miami with his presumed choice of GM, Chad Alexander. Harbaugh is in that mold of Tom Coughlin that Darius Slayton said is what the team needs to get the organization back to its winning ways. He is the top choice for me.
The second choice is Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski definitely checks off a lot of the boxes Big Blue is looking for in their next head coach— has been a head coach, offensive background (remember, the Giants wanted him as an OC oh so many years ago), and having success with an organization that historically struggled. Yes, there are negatives, but any candidate with head coaching experience is going to have some marks against them.
After those two, I would steer away from the other head coaching with experience — Mike McCarthy, Kliff Kingsbury, Raheem Morris, and Vance Joseph, among others — for an assistant with North Jersey roots: Jeff Hafley. The Montvale, N.J. native does have head coaching experience with Boston College, and the Packers have been a top unit since taking them over two years ago. The key question would be his plan for the other side of the ball to ensure Dart blossoms into a franchise quarterback.
Valentine’s View
John Harbaugh is, of course, the grand slam home run hire. Harbaugh will have his choice of jobs and will go where he wants to go. The Giants, though, should do what they can to make it nearly impossible for Harbaugh to walk away. You want instant credibility? A return to relevance? A culture-setter? A franchise-changer? That’s Harbaugh.
Failing that, Kevin Stefanski is hardly a bunt single. He’s a three-run homer. You can argue that there might be reasons to hire Stefanski over Harbaugh. He is 20 years younger. He is an offensive coach who would work more directly with Jaxson Dart. He is used to dealing with a messy ownership/front office situation, and the Giants are closer to that than the smoothly functioning, aligned front office Harbaugh had in Baltimore.
If they manage to miss out on both guys? As much as the Giants are skewing toward a head coach with experience, and I am in agreement, I might just forget that and swing for the fences with my two favorite first-time candidates in this cycle, neither of whom the Giants have yet shown interest in.
Davis Webb, if you want to take a swing at possibly getting the next Sean McVay, and getting a guy who would be great for Jaxson Dart? Or, Jeff Hafley and his deep ties to the region.
