“Giants snagging their savior coach in marriage made in heaven,” read an arguably understated headline in the New York Post at 1:39 a.m. ET Thursday morning. By 8:49 a.m., the franchise’s own social media account had posted a single smirk emoji, a little bat signal to the Big Blue masses that the glorious rumors must be true: that the New York Giants were signing former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh to a reported five-year, $100 million deal to helm the team. The fact that the contract still hadn’t been technically inked as of Thursday afternoon didn’t stop fans from rejoicing: “Best possible outcome for this franchise,” one pal wrote in my Giants group chat. “This is a gift.”
On the New York sports radio station WFAN, I heard one host compare Harbaugh joining the Giants to that time Andy Reid got fired by the Eagles and then hired by the Chiefs. (I’ll take it!) Hours later, the drive-time fellas spent almost equal time fretting about Jalen Brunson’s recently twisted ankle as they did reading out loud from a Sports Illustrated report titled “Inside the Meal That Sealed the Deal for the Giants and John Harbaugh.” (Said meal reportedly included fried zucchini, “vintage wines meeting their eyeline at nearly every level,” halibut, and a “limoncello tres leches” dessert.)
It was only a day prior, on Wednesday morning, that NFL coaching carousel reporting had shifted from airy rumors to some cold, hard facts: that Harbaugh, a Super Bowl XLVII winner who’d spent 18 years coaching the Ravens before being let go in the aftermath of a dud 2025 campaign, was talking with the Giants. And not, like, via Zoom: he was in the building. With that, an entire fan base somehow came to the same hive-mind conclusion: Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, do NOT let him leave that building! It was a refrain that called to mind the typical Sunday crowd at MetLife Stadium: at once gleefully braggadocious, and also painfully, shamelessly desperate. It’s been awhile since the Giants have been able to turn that spirit into a winning combination. But on Thursday, everything seemed to click—and maybe even unlock.
During the Fiesta Bowl between Ole Miss and Miami last week, ESPN’s broadcasters noted that a “massive ovation” was sweeping through the Tempe, Arizona, stadium. The reason was that 22-year-old Jaxson Dart—the rookie Giants quarterback who’d gone 21-5 during his two seasons at Ole Miss and broke Eli Manning’s all-time school passing record—had just been flashed up on the Jumbotron. “Good for him,” intoned one announcer as ESPN’s cameras located Dart in an Ole Miss baseball jersey and clear-framed glasses. “Tough year with the Giants,” he added.
It’s true. New York finished last in the fairly wimpy NFC East this season. And that’s barely the half of it. They also fired head coach Brian Daboll—already their fifth head coach in less than a decade’s time—in early November, and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen two weeks after that. They compiled a 4-13 record that was somehow even more annoying and self-destructive than it looked on paper. (This team truly never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity: At one point they lost four straight games despite leading in the fourth quarter of all of them. And then? Once they had the no. 1 draft pick in their grasp? They went 2-0 to close out the season, dropping them to the fifth pick!)
Star receiver Malik Nabers went down with a torn ACL and meniscus. Stolid bulldozer Cam Skattebo was sidelined for the season by an injury that, to my horrified eyes, looked a lot like his entire foot had just … fallen off?? On the very, very bright side, there was the exciting emergence of Dart, who led all rookie QBs in total touchdowns, passer rating, and rushing yards. But even watching New York’s bedazzled young son thrive felt more stressful than it needed to be. You never knew when Dart would be, say, full-force smacked on the helmet by his (adoring!) head coach upon emerging from the concussion examination tent, or even busted in on during treatment. And between Dart’s headstrong instincts and the Giants’ play calling, there sure was a distressing number of potential—and actual—concussions.
While the merciful end to the Giants’ season officially meant that the hunt for a(nother) new head coach was on, with potential available talent ranging from Harbaugh to former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to offensive guru Mike McDaniel, this opportunity also felt more exhausting than exciting. Since the Giants opted not to move on from embattled general manager Joe Schoen, there was a pervasive fear among fans that the franchise would wind up back in the familiar pattern of revolving-door employment that’s been setting the franchise back for the better part of a decade. Why would any elite NFL coach choose to come here? Have they seen that disastrous in-season Hard Knocks?!
At any rate, shortly after Dart was seen on the Fiesta Bowl sideline idly chatting with some dude in an Ole Miss polo, a viewer made a discovery: you didn’t even have to be an expert lip-reader to see that Dart, chill as ever, was saying to the guy: It’s either Harbaugh or Stefanski, but I don’t know. Now, we seemingly do.
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One attractive thing about the two coaches named by Dart is that their most recent jobs were “head coach.” That sounds silly, but not since the Giants hired Tom Coughlin in 2004 has the franchise onboarded a new top dog who fit that description! Within the last six years, Harbaugh and Stefanski have won three NFL Coach of the Year awards between them. Both men have been described as “CEO-style” coaches who prefer to delegate play-calling duties. In Harbaugh, the Giants are acquiring someone who is reliable, consistent, and disciplined—but who has also proven to be adaptive and inventive with uniquely skilled personnel like Lamar Jackson. With so many crazy kids (complimentary) on this Giants team—Nabers’s IHOP commercial really did help ease the sting of his injury; and watching Thursday morning’s Get Up, I had to laugh when Taylor Lewan referred to Dart and Skattebo as “the Creatine Caucasians”—it’s encouraging to have some supervision from a certified adult.
For a time on Wednesday night, reports indicated that while the Giants’ meeting with Harbaugh had gone well, the team hadn’t necessarily succeeded in the whole “not letting him leave the building” thing as so many fans had hoped. Which made sense from Harbaugh’s perspective: He was the preeminent name in this hiring cycle, so why not take a beat, make the rounds, and think things over? But the fact that he ultimately picked New York is a good sign for the franchise—and his commitment could prove to be generative as well.
If it’s true that meeting with (for two hours, one-on-one!) and studying Dart played a big role in Harbaugh’s decision—so much so that Harbaugh pulled the plug on other chats—that’s a pretty bullish signal about the kid, the kind that could attract other top coaches and athletes to the franchise like a magnet. Harbaugh is expected to bring offensive coordinator Todd Monken—the architect of a 2024 Ravens unit that led the NFL in total offense and rushing—with him to New York, and Monken’s schemes would dovetail nicely with Dart’s dual-threat athleticism.
Even with all this optimism, we know the best-case scenario is rarely how things actually unfold for teams in the NFL. Despite the coaching shakeup, the Giants’ GM is still Schoen. The team’s defense was among the league’s most porous. And despite all the Dart love, without making some adjustments to his rough-and-tumble style, he’ll never be able to threaten Manning’s Giants records the way he did at Ole Miss.
But with a still-high first-round draft pick, a favorable schedule, a coach getting a fresh start, and a young fun core of rising stars to whom Harbaugh can say I chose you, there’s a lot to love about the upcoming Giants season—and what can happen when you finally get the right guy in the building.
