Copyright New York Daily News
Brian Daboll arrived with big-time hype. When the Giants hired Daboll as head coach in January of 2022, they envisioned him bringing offensive ingenuity and instilling a sturdy culture like the one he helped build as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator over the previous four seasons. And while Daboll’s tenure got off to a promising start, that vision ultimately never came to fruition. The Giants fired Daboll on Monday, midway through his fourth season, and named offensive coordinator Mike Kafka the interim head coach. Daboll went 20-40-1 as the Giants’ head coach, including 2-8 this year. “The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch said in a joint statement. The final straw was Sunday’s 24-20 loss in Chicago, during which standout rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a concussion and the Giants blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. But there were many steps along the way that led to Monday’s unceremonious ousting. Here’s a look back at how the Giants and Daboll got to this point: DABOLL HIRED The Giants hired Daboll, one of that cycle’s hottest candidates, a week after they hired Joe Schoen away from the Bills to be their general manager. Daboll earned plaudits for helping to develop Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who entered the NFL as a raw prospect but turned into an MVP candidate under Daboll’s tutelage. Fresh off of a 4-13 campaign, the Giants hoped Daboll would find similar success with another young quarterback in Daniel Jones, who was entering his fourth season. Dan Quinn and Brian Flores were among the other coaches to interview for the job that offseason. STRONG START The Daboll era began with a bang, as the Giants upset the Tennessee Titans — the reigning AFC No. 1 seed — with a come-from-behind 21-20 win in Week 1. Rather than attempt an extra point that would tie the game, Daboll went for the win after the Giants’ final touchdown. Saquon Barkley scored a go-ahead two-point conversion to cap a statement victory. The Giants continued to exceed expectations by jumping out to a 7-2 record, and while they slowed down during the stretch run, they finished 9-7-1 to earn a wild-card spot. Jones set career highs with 3,205 passing yards and 708 rushing yards, and he totaled 22 touchdowns against only six turnovers. Daboll was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year. PLAYOFF WIN The Giants further shocked the NFL with an upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, with Jones passing for two touchdowns and Barkley running for two more to fuel a 31-24 win on the road. The Giants came crashing down to earth in the second round with a humbling 38-7 loss to the rival Philadelphia Eagles. Still, it was a successful season for a Giants team that seemed to be ahead of schedule. JONES EXTENSION The following offseason proved to be a significant one in the Giants’ trajectory, as they signed Jones to a front-loaded four-year, $160 million contract extension while using the franchise tag on Barkley. Although the Daboll-Schoen regime did not draft Jones, the extension served as a show of faith — at least in the short term — in him as their franchise quarterback. Barkley, meanwhile, did not get the long-term contract he sought and agreed to play the 2023 season on an adjusted one-year deal with incentives. 2023 SEASON The magic of Daboll’s debut season quickly wore off in year two as the Giants spiraled to a 2-8 start. Jones missed all but six games due to a neck injury and a season-ending ACL tear, and his play regressed when he was on the field. During a Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Daboll infamously flipped a tablet in frustration after speaking with Jones on the bench. The Giants went 4-3 in their final seven games, with three of those wins coming in games started by undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito. WINK MARTINDALE LEAVES The 2024 offseason got off to an inauspicious start when defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and the Giants agreed to part ways. Martindale’s relationship with Daboll had deteriorated during the 2023 season, and the former was reportedly furious after Daboll fired two members of his defensive staff. The Giants replaced Martindale with Shane Bowen. They fired special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey and replaced him with Michael Ghobrial. 2024 OFFSEASON The rest of the Giants’ 2024 offseason was filled with drama. First, Barkley left in free agency for the Eagles. Next, the Giants were unsuccessful in their attempts to trade up in that year’s NFL Draft to select a quarterback, with Drake Maye most commonly linked to them. “I wasn’t fired up about it,” Jones would later admit of the Giants’ interest in the young quarterbacks. Both sagas were broadcast for the world to see on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” 2024 SEASON The regular season proved to be more of the same, as the Giants again started 2-8. The Giants benched, then released Jones, who had eight touchdowns against seven interceptions in those 10 games. They alternated between DeVito, Drew Lock and Tim Boyle at quarterback the rest of the way, finishing 3-14 in what was the franchise’s 100th season. Barkley, meanwhile, delivered the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season in NFL history and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship. DABOLL, SCHOEN RETAINED Despite the 2024 disappointment, Giants ownership retained Daboll and Schoen. Mara told reporters in January, however, “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.” That put pressure on the Giants to balance planning for the future with winning in the present. DRAFTING DART For the first time in Daboll’s tenure, the Giants drafted a quarterback, trading up to No. 25 to select the dual-threat Dart out of Ole Miss. Daboll identified Dart as the QB to build around, tying his future to the 22-year-old prospect. Still, the idea was for Dart to develop behind veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, who both signed in the offseason. 2025 SEASON The Giants began 0-3 under Wilson, and Daboll made an earlier-than-expected switch to Dart before Week 4. Dart gave the Giants an instant jolt, going 2-1 in his first three starts, with the wins coming over contenders in the Los Angeles Chargers and Eagles. During the Week 6 win, Dart was evaluated for a concussion, and Daboll created controversy by poking his head into the medical tent to check on Dart’s status. Daboll was fined $100,000 for the rule violation. The Giants seemed poised to win again in Week 7, as they led by 19 points going into the fourth quarter in Denver. But the Giants unraveled in historic fashion, surrendering 33 points in the fourth to lose, 33-32, to the Broncos. That was the first of four consecutive Giant losses, the most recent of which being Sunday’s in Chicago. Dart took a big third-quarter hit in Sunday’s loss. He played two snaps on the Giants’ next drive, then came out of the game between the third and fourth quarters. He was later ruled out with a concussion. With Wilson at quarterback, the Giants had a chance to take a two-touchdown lead in the fourth, but they were stopped at the goal line twice. Rather than go for it on fourth down at the 1-yard line, Daboll opted to kick a 19-yard field goal, putting the Giants up by 10. The Caleb Williams-led Bears then scored two late touchdowns as the Giants’ offense stagnated. It was the fourth game this season that the Giants lost after leading by at least 10 points. DABOLL FIRED The Giants announced Daboll’s firing on Monday afternoon, with Mara and Tisch saying they spoke about the decision that morning. Daboll, the 20th head coach in Giants history, is the fourth to be fired during the season. This is the third year in a row that the Giants are off to a 2-8 start. They are one loss away from clinching a third consecutive losing season. “We understand the frustrations of our fans,” Mara and Tisch said, “and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
