The New York Giants axed head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, team ownership says.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will serve as the interim head coach, the sources said.
Sunday’s abysmal come-from-ahead loss to the Chicago Bears may have been the last straw in an otherwise frustrating season. The Giants released a statement indicating as much, as leadership confirmed the firing.
“We spoke this morning about the direction of our franchise on the field, and we have decided that, at this time, it is in our best interest to make a change at the head of the coaching position,” president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch said in a joint statement.
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” the statement continued. “We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
The development comes after the Giants lost 24-20 to the Bears after maintaining a sizeable lead throughout much of the game. The Giants’ lead eroded after rookie QB Jaxson Dart went out with a concussion. Russell Wilson, who started and lost the first three games of the season, went in with a touchdown lead.
If Dart can’t play next week, it’s unclear who the Giants might go with at quarterback. They also have veteran Jameis Winston on the roster.
Daboll won the Associated Press’ NFL Coach of the Year award back in 2022, his first season as the Giants’ head coach. On his watch, Big Blue got off to their best start in a decade, and won a postseason game for the first time since the Eli Manning-led Giants took down Tom Brady and the Patriots, again, in 2012.
This is just the Giants’ third mid-season coaching change since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and first since 2017, when Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese were fired following a 2-10 start. Daboll went 20-40-1 in his three and a half years as Giants head coach. Since the start of 2023, he was 11-33.
Daboll’s .336 winning percentage ranks 154th out of 166 coaches with 50-plus games since 1970.
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