Sports

This isn’t like when the Giants hired Pat Shurmur or Joe Judge. It’s nothing like the situation they had with Brian Daboll, either. Those teams were void of talent, cap-strapped, aging or some combination of the three.

Yes, any NFL job is coveted -- there are only 32 of them -- but not all are desirable. The Giants’ vacancy, created when the team fired Daboll on Monday morning, is desirable.

Jaxson Dartis the quarterback. Malik Nabers is the receiver. The defense, while woefully underperforming this year, still has talent.

“I love it,” a high-profile offensive coach said when asked by SNY if the Giants’ job intrigues him. “F--k yes I would want that.”

That’s among the reasons why Daboll’s departure was the only move ownership made.

General manager Joe Schoen is far from perfect. You can make the argument -- a compelling one rooted in facts -- for why John Mara and Steve Tisch should have blown this entire thing up.

Schoen’s draft classes are filled with as many, if not more, obvious misses (Evan Neal, Deonte Banks, Jalin Hyatt) as hits (Nabers). Those touted as organizational cornerstones (Tyler Nubin, Dru Phillips, John Michael Schmitz) haven’t looked that way this year.

Even their free-agent signings leave much to be desired (Jon Runyan, Mark Glowinski, James Hudson). It was Schoen and others who added quarterback Russell Wilson and cemented him as the starting quarterback without any camp competition.

There was hesitation to turn to Dart in Week 4, too. That decision was on Daboll.

Oh, and then there are the players the Giants cast away: Julian Love, Leonard Williams, Xavier McKinney and some guy named Saquon Barkley.

So go ahead and say Schoen deserves as much blame as Daboll. It’s not unwarranted if that’s your stance. The facts above support it. But it’s not the opinion shared within the walls of 1925 Giants Drive. That, truthfully, is all that matters.

The Giants still hold Schoen in “high regard,” sources told SNY. They believe this roster is substantially improved from the one inherited from Dave Gettleman. That’s why, at no point this year, was Schoen’s seat hot, sources said. The feeling from ownership and key decision-makers is that the talent is significantly better than the Giants’ 2-8 record indicates.

Their justification: The four double-digit leads the Giants built against the Chargers (21-18 win), Saints (26-14 loss), Broncos (33-32 loss) and Bears (24-20 loss). They point to the opener against the Commanders, a 21-6 loss in which the Giants entered the fourth quarter down one possession.

You can say that’s flawed thinking, but to them, that’s a sign the pieces are there. Daboll, they believed, wasn’t doing enough to turn those close games into wins. Schoen, the team said in a statement, will now lead the search for the next coach.

It would have taken a minor miracle for Daboll to return in 2026 after the team’s season effectively ended with the Denver debacle. The Giants were willing to see that through, but another fourth-quarter collapse in Chicago, followed by Dart’s injury in what some viewed as an act of self-preservation, pushed ownership over the edge.

Daboll is out. Mike Kafka is in. The Giants view this as an audition for Kafka -- both for them and the rest of the NFL. The assistant head coach and offensive coordinator has interviewed eight times since 2023. He’ll make his case for the full-time job. He’ll also decide what needs to happen with the staff the rest of the year to aid that.

But in all likelihood, the Giants’ next coach is on someone else’s staff right now.

“It’s up there,” said a coach who expects to receive significant interest this cycle, when asked where the Giants’ vacancy ranks. “The quarterback is going to be really good. You have an elite defensive line. Nabers. (Cam) Skattebo. There’s talent.

“That defense, with the right system, is top five immediately. The offense can grow into something pretty cool. The rest is easy to piece together.”

That belief, shared outside the team’s walls, is what they’re clinging to internally. It’s why they feel confident sticking with Schoen. Right move? Wrong one?

Time will tell.

But it’s the one the Giants are going with.