The New York Giants have relieved head coach Brian Daboll of his duties effective immediately the club announced Monday.
The news comes on the heels of the Giants 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday which dropped the team to 2-8 on the year. That mark is good for last place in the NFC East, and tied with New Orleans for the 2nd worst mark in all of football.
In his first season with the Giants, the team went from 4-13 to 9-7-1, and made their first playoff appearance since 2016. They would go on to beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 in the wild card round, and result in Daboll taking home the NFL’s Coach of the Year award for his efforts.
Unfortunately, the team has regressed in each subsequent season, going 6-11 in 2023, and 3-14 in 2024. With the team missing WR Malik Nabers, RB Cam Skattebo, and now QB Jaxson Dart who suffered a concussion vs. Chicago on the weekend, it would appear as though Big Blue is set for another top 5 draft pick next spring.
According to reports, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will serve as interim head coach for the team for the duration of the season. Kafka was a finalist for several head coaching vacancies this past offseason, and will get an extended audition to make his case to be the team’s permanent solution along the sidelines over the next several weeks.
Despite the poor record, New York has been in the mix in most of their games this season. The problem however is that they haven’t been able to close out games, with numerous heartbreaking defeats coming in the final moments of games recently.
The club is just the 2nd team since the NFL merger to lose twice when leading by 10 or more points with under 4 minutes to go in league history.
While not currently something he can control, it also doesn’t help that former top draft pick Daniel Jones, who was essentially run out of town due to his poor on field play, is now leading the league in passing with the Colts, having thrown for 2,659 yards, and 15 TDs. Indianapolis is currently tied for the best record in the NFL at 8-2.
Giants General Manager Joe Schoen is expected to address the media later this week.
Photo: Elbert Hampton. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.