The New York Giants held a press conference Tuesday to introduce their new head coach, three days after John Harbaugh agreed to the job and finalized the franchise’s all-out pursuit of its top candidate.
Owners John Mara and Steve Tisch made the hire official less than 72 hours after a lengthy interview and dinner with Harbaugh that sealed the deal. The sides began working on a contract Wednesday night when it was clear Harbaugh was a fit and he canceled meetings with other teams.
Harbaugh is expected to report directly to ownership, rather than general manager Joe Schoen.
“To serve as this franchise’s head coach is a tremendous honor,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “I come from a football family, and I have deep respect for the history and tradition of this organization.”
Harbaugh joins the Giants less than two weeks after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens, who made the playoffs 12 times in 18 seasons with him in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season.
Baltimore fell short of the postseason this year because of a missed kick at the buzzer in the season finale, leading ownership to make a change and put Harbaugh on the market.
Harbaugh is now tasked with turning around the beleaguered Giants’ franchise, which has made just two playoff appearances over the past 12 years, and not made it past the divisional round. Todd Monken could follow him from Baltimore to be offensive coordinator, unless he takes a head-coaching gig in Cleveland or elsewhere.
Harbaugh got the job over the likes of Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce, leapfrogging some expected front-runners who got shuffled back as soon as the 63-year-old became available. The chance to work for stable ownership and Dart made New York an attractive landing spot over places such as Tennessee, Atlanta and Miami.
The Giants have talented pieces in place on either side of the ball, including running back Cam Skattebo, receiver Malik Nabers and left tackle Andrew Thomas on offense, plus pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence on defense. They have the fifth pick in the draft to add to that stockpile.
Changing the culture of losing that has pervaded the Meadowlands for the better part of the last decade is now on Harbaugh’s shoulders. Counting playoff games, the seven coaches who followed 2007 and ’11 Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin have gone 45-105-1, a winning percentage of .300.
Harbaugh is 193-124 in 317 games, a .609 winning percentage, since taking over the Ravens in 2008. He spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant with Philadelphia, mostly as special teams coordinator and then defensive backs coach.
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