Whichever side of the debate fans and media are on regarding the firing of now former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, the argument is moot. The Giants’ owners, John Mara and Steve Tisch, have moved on from Daboll after terminating the 50-year-old on Monday. It came less than 24 hours following another Giants collapse after clutching a late-game lead. This time, a 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Giants held a 20-10 advantage for most of the fourth quarter. But as they have done for too many games this season, Daboll and company became excessively charitable and gifted the Bears a win. Chicago scored two touchdowns in the last 3:56 of the abomination to walk away with a victory that never should have been. It was the fourth time this season the Giants have held double-digit leads and given them up.
The most memorable took place on October 19 in Week 7 in Denver, where the Giants were ahead 26-8 against the Broncos with 14:03 remaining, a seemingly insurmountable margin. Yet they ultimately allowed the Broncos to score all 33 of their points in the last quarter alone and fell 33-32 as Will Lutz kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired.
The Giants left Denver 2-5, and in retrospect, it was the beginning of the end for Daboll. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who was also Daboll’s assistant head coach, will now take the helm for the remainder of the season. The 2-8 Giants, who have lost four straight games and four of their last five, will host the 5-3-1 Green Bay Packers this Sunday (1 p.m.) at MetLife Stadium.
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” said Mara, who is valiantly undergoing treatment for cancer, which he made public in late September, and Tisch in a joint statement. “We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
General manager Joe Schoen, who, along with Daboll, was hired by Mara and Tisch in January of 2022, will be retained for the time being. They were brought on to revive the Giants, replacing former GM Dave Gettleman (2018-21) and head coach Joe Judge (2020-21). Prior to being named to their positions with the Giants, Schoen was the assistant general manager for the Buffalo Bills (2017-21) and Daboll the Bills’ offensive coordinator (2018-21).
When they arrived from Upstate New York, the Giants had made the playoffs just once in the previous five seasons. The duo immediately stopped that futility streak, going 9-7-1 in the 2022 campaign and winning a wildcard game versus the Minnesota Vikings. Daboll was honored as the 2022 AP Coach of the Year. It was their apex because since the start of the 2023 season, the Giants are 11-33 going into this weekend’s game.
The premise put forth by those opposed to Daboll’s firing — that it was logical to afford him the opportunity to continue developing promising rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart — is sound. Daboll identified the 22-year-old from Ole Miss (University of Mississippi), the alma mater of Eli Manning — a two-time Giants Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP (2007, 2011) — as the team’s future franchise QB.
Daboll convinced Schoen and ownership to trade their 2025 No. 34 and No. 99 picks, and a 2026 third-round pick to the Houston Texans for the No. 25 first-round pick to draft Dart. The youngster has looked the part of a potentially elite signal caller since taking over the QB1 spot from erstwhile starter Russell Wilson in Week 4. That’s the 5,000-foot view.
Conversely, the larger panorama of Daboll’s tenure isn’t pretty. The collective team has been riddled with mistakes and underperformance. The defense, directed by coordinator Shane Bowen, is ranked 29th out of the NFL’s 32 teams and Dart has been evaluated for concussions four times this year, including the preseason. He exited Sunday’s game versus the Bears in the third quarter and did not return. Before going out, Dart was balling, throwing for 242 yards and rushing for 66 and two touchdowns. He was replaced by Wilson to start the fourth quarter.
The cumulative failures of Daboll’s Giants, one playoff appearance and a 3-14 record last season, with little quantitative or empirical improvement this season, left Mara and Tisch dismissing the illusion of choice and making the wise decision, really the only decision, that made sense.
Daboll, deservedly, will land on his feet with another team, college or pro. But it was evident he wasn’t the man to lift the Giants from the abyss.