Giants hire former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their next head coach

The New York Giants have found their man. The Giants announced they have hired former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to be their next head coach.

This hiring comes after Daboll interviewed twice with the Giants brass, including a second interview that occurred this past Tuesday which featured co-owners Steve Tisch and John Mara along with new general manager Joe Schoen. Daboll was the first man to receive two interviews with the Giants, which made the 46-year-old emerge as the front-runner for the job. 

“Brian was the first candidate we met with when we began our search,” team president John Mara said in a statement, “and as we continued our conversations, it was clear that his approach to coaching and team building was what we are looking for moving forward with our team. Brian has had tremendous experience in the NFL and has been part of multiple championship teams. It is clear he used that experience to grow and develop into a dynamic leader, one that we are confident is the right fit as our head coach.”

On top of that, the hiring of Schoen also seemed to give Daboll an inside track at ultimately being brought aboard. Schoen was the Bills assistant GM before being hired by the Giants last Friday and worked with Daboll for the past four seasons in Buffalo. Once Schoen was secured, having a level of familiarity and continuity was likely an attractive aspect for both the Giants and Daboll. 

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named head coach of the New York Giants,” Daboll said in the official release. “Thank you to Joe Schoen for believing in me and to John Mara and Steve Tisch and their families for entrusting me with this position. My immediate goal is to assemble a coaching staff — a strong staff that emphasizes teaching and collaboration and making sure our players are put in the position to be their best and, ultimately, to win games. That’s why all of us do this. To teach, to be successful, to develop talent, and to win. I have a pretty good idea where our fan base’s feelings are right now, and I get it. I promise we will work our tails off to put a team on the field that you will be proud to support and give us the results we all want.”

There also seemed to be a little bit of urgency on the part of the Giants to lock Daboll up. According to NFL Network, the coach was not only a finalist for the Miami Dolphins open head coaching job, but the New Orleans Saints also asked to interview him for their vacancy as well. 

Daboll has served as the Bills offensive coordinator since 2018. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama in 2017 and had multiple NFL stops, including a large chunk with the New England Patriots organization. Over his coaching career, Daboll has been a part of five Super Bowl championship teams and one college national championship. 

In Buffalo, Daboll helped lead a prolific offensive attack. This past season, the Bills finished third in the NFL with 28.4 points per game and were fifth in total yards of offense. 

Of course, Daboll will now be tasked with developing Giants quarterback Daniel Jones — who the team recently backed heading into 2022 — in what New York hopes to be in a similar fashion to his work with Josh Allen. Over the past two seasons, Allen has developed into an elite quarterback and just finished a 2021 season where he notched 4,407 yards passing, 36 passing touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. He also rushed for a career-high 763 yards and six touchdowns. Given that Jones can also make plays with his legs, it will be curious just how similar of an attack Daboll will create in New York. 

Daboll is replacing former Giants head coach Joe Judge, who was fired after a 10-23 record over his two seasons in New York.