As many things change, so many stay the same — especially in East Rutherford, where the New York Giants have fired head coach Pat Shurmur and are once again on the prowl for a replacement.
The Giants now need to hire their fifth head coach since 2015 and since they got a late start, there’s a lot of ground to make up.
Here’s a look at 15 potential head coaching candidates.
Editor’s note: Having gone over several of these names previously, there’s no real reason to completely rehash everything just for the sake of doing it, so we’re going to blockquote out previous analysis and commentary, and add to it if needed.
Matt Rhule
Rhule is drawing interest from the Carolina Panthers and others, but rumors suggest he’s looking for a place where he can control personnel or he’s not leaving college. Are the Giants that team? Ehh…
Rhule has had success just about everywhere he has gone, and his time at Baylor has been no exception. With the school dealing with some very serious issues, he’s brought it back from the ashes. Not only that, Rhule has a familiarity with the Giants and team ownership, having served as their assistant offensive line coach in 2012. He’s generated head coaching interest in recent years and very nearly landed the Jets job prior to the hiring of Adam Gase.
Forgetting about his desire to control personnel, Rhule has no NFL head coaching experience to speak of, which is something the Giants may look to avoid this time around.
Tom Coughlin
Likely? Probably not. Impossible? Never say never.
Yep. We’re starting out in controversial fashion, but let’s not pretend that forcing Coughlin to step down wasn’t the first in a long string of poor decisions that led these Giants to where they are today. The real question would be whether or not Coughlin would want to come back to New York. Or, at this point, whether he even desires a return to the sideline at all.
Bottom line: The Giants need an old-school disciplinarian leading the way because the whole player-friendly thing is clearly not working.
The problem with Coughlin, who was recently terminated by the Jacksonville Jaguars for excessively and illegally fining players, is that he’s too much of a disciplinarian for today’s NFL and today’s era.
Josh McDaniels
McDaniels is the name that just won’t go away…
There is a constant obsession with Bill Belichick’s coaching tree, and McDaniels has been on the Giants’ radar previously. However, there are rumors swirling that Belichick told both McDaniels and Matt Patricia to steer clear of the organization prior to their hiring of Shurmur, which would be damning for the Giants if true — especially considering Belichick’s strong feelings for the Mara family. On top of that, McDaniels has proved to be a little flaky and didn’t excel as a head coach in Denver.
I would not consider McDaniels a serious candidate at this point, but he’s one the Giants may reach out to again anyway.
Robert Saleh
Interesting option here…
A year ago, everyone in San Francisco wanted Saleh fired. Now that the 49ers sport one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL, however, the defensive coordinator is not only the talk of the town, but an early favorite to land a head coaching job in 2020. Do the Giants want a defensive-minded guy? They should, but their last two head coaching choices were heavy offensive guys, and with a young quarterback, that would seem to be the route the organization wants to stick to.
Again, however, Saleh has no head coaching experience at the NFL level and I’m just not sure the Giants want to (or can afford to) gamble here.
Kevin Stefanski
Another name that persists…
The Giants have had interest in Stefanski at other positions previously but were blocked from interviewing him two years ago. And now that he’s having such tremendous success running the offense in Minnesota, it’s likely Stefanski wants to take a step up. If the Giants were to fire Shurmur, that would create a scenario in which Big Blue could circle back at exactly the right time in Stefanski’s career. However, there is likely to be a lot of interest in his services.
Giants have wanted Stefanski as a positional coach, but it seems as if that window is closed. Stefanski is going to generate head coaching interest, but will the Giants be among those with interest?
John DeFilippo
Do the Giants want a offensive-minded head coach? How about one who’s good with young quarterbacks?
One of the best potential candidates available for a team with a young quarterback, DeFilippo could be just what the doctor ordered for Daniel Jones. DeFilippo helped turn Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate and Nick Foles into a Super Bowl MVP. He’s also done wonders with rookie Gardner Minshew, but how would that all translate to being a head coach? As noted earlier, the Giants seem to trend toward quarterback-specific, offensive guys and that has not worked out well, so would they want to make a third attempt at the same style of coach?
Again, there’s no head coaching experience to speak of here, but there are several variables that sway in DeFilippo’s favor.
Matt Eberflus
This is an interesting section because we could go with Nick Sirianni as an option as well, but let’s stick with Eberflus for now.
Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni is a name we’ve seen connected to the Giants a bit — another offensive guy with a mind for quarterbacks — but what about Eberflus instead? If the Giants decided to lean more toward a defensive coach, which is clearly needed, Eberflus is arguably the best candidate of the bunch. He’s strict, coordinated and respected. The one thing that may go against Eberflus is his overall lack of experience (just two seasons as an NFL coordinator).
Jason Garrett
John Mara and Steve Tisch love Jason Garrett. Garrett loves Mara, Tisch and the Giants organization. Those two things are facts and there’s no way around it.
Does that mean Garrett is a shoo-in or even a favorite? Not at all, but he’s absolutely going to get some consideration and quite possibly an interview if not retained by Dallas, and by all accounts, he won’t be.
But the question remains… If Garrett could not succeed in Dallas with a uniquely talented roster, how could he manage with a much more thin personnel group in New York? It just doesn’t seem like the right fit.
Ron Rivera
Dave Gettleman has a deep respect for Ron Rivera, who he inherited during his time as general manager of the Carolina Panthers.
While Gettleman didn’t hire Rivera, he didn’t fire him, either. As a result, the two got the Panthers to 15-1 in 2015 and then went onto the Super Bowl, so the history of success is quite obvious there.
Some may look at Rivera’s career record of 76-63-1 and wonder if that’s enough of a resume to lead New York, but he’s one of the best options and most obvious fits out there.
Well, with the exception of his desire for personnel control…
However, if the Giants want Rivera, they will have to act lightning fast as he’s expected to meet with and be hired by the Redskins on Monday. The clock is ticking.
Mike McCarthy
The 56-year-old McCarthy is easily the most experienced and successful head coaching candidate currently available, and he’s made it abundantly clear that he’s looking to get back into football and has been grinding away watching film every single day.
In addition to his 125-77-2 career record, McCarthy took the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs nine times and won a Super Bowl. Oh, and did we mention he’s also tremendous when it comes developing quarterbacks?
Some believe he should have won more with Aaron Rodgers, but we’ll see in time if that’s more on Rodgers than McCarthy. The bottom line is that Daniel Jones would be in great hands with McCarthy, which has to be consideration No. 1 when finding the next coach.
Dan Campbell
A former Giant, Dan Campbell may be an under-the-radar option for Big Blue this offseason. And while his previous connections with the Giants certainly don’t hurt, there’s a lot more that goes into considering the former tight end.
Not only has Campbell ascended the assistant coaching ranks under another former Giant, Sean Payton, in New Orleans, he actually does have some head coaching experience, having previously served as the Miami Dolphins’ interim head coach (5-7 in 2015).
Campbell would need to build an experienced staff with a quality offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but he’s an intriguing name to watch nonetheless.
Nick Saban
Wait. What?
Every single time there’s a head coaching vacancy in East Rutherford, Saban’s name is mentioned and rightfully so. Not only is he the most successful NCAA coach, he does have NFL experience and, perhaps more importantly than that, he’s been on the Giants’ radar for a decade.
Prior to hiring Ben McAdoo, there was talk that the Giants wanted to hire Saban to replace Tom Coughlin, and then Bruce Arians said Saban “covets” the Giants job prior to the team hiring Pat Shurmur.
Is any of that true? Who knows for sure, but if it is, then expect to see Saban’s name pop up again this year.
David Shaw
The Giants have had open interest in Shaw previously, but he’s maintained that he’s happy where he’s at, enjoys the stability and isn’t looking to uproot his life.
Could that change this time around?
Shaw just concluded his first Bowl-less season in nine years and perhaps the timing has never been better to take a step up to the NFL level. The Giants will undoubtedly make a call.
Brian Daboll
Brian Daboll is a new name to this whole thing, but he’s worked under Bill Belichick in New England, Nick Saban at Alabama and has Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills playing at a high level under his watch here in 2019.
The 44-year-old has no head coaching experience at the NFL level, but has found tremendous success as an assistant throughout his career. And the fact that the Bills are playoff bound only boosts his stock.
The Giants will, at the very least, be interested.
Bill Cowher
What would a Giants head coaching search be without mentioning Bill Cowher?
Cowher has repeatedly been connected to the Giants over the years and although he’s not drawn a single interview, the belief that he covets Big Blue’s head coaching job persists.
Cowher said as recently as November of 2018 that he wants to return to the sideline, and admitted in September of this year he still has the itch for competitiveness even though he’s enjoying life away from the game with his family.
It’s an extreme outside shot, but we’ll see.
