How Did Things Go From Great to Disastrous for Brian Daboll and the Giants?

It comes as no surprise that the New York Giants made the difficult decision to part ways with head coach Brian Daboll last week. The former NFL Coach of the Year, who earned the accolade during his impressive debut season, has struggled to replicate even a fraction of that initial success. Over the course of more than 60 games as the Giants' head coach, Daboll amassed a disappointing 20-40 record, managing just a single postseason appearance in 2022—his very first year leading the team. In the past two seasons alone, the Giants have posted an abysmal 5-22 record, with Daboll finishing with an 11-33 (.250) mark over his final two and a half seasons. During that stretch, only the Tennessee Titans performed worse, underscoring the extent of the team's struggles.

Ultimately, it was Daboll and his coaching staff who bore the brunt of the blame after the Giants squandered four double-digit leads on the road this season, culminating in a dismal 2-8 record. The final straw came last Sunday in Chicago, when the team relinquished a 10-point lead with less than four minutes remaining—a collapse made even more painful by the injury to rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart during the game. Daboll entered this season already on thin ice, and while his strong advocacy for drafting Dart showed foresight, it wasn’t enough to offset the broader deficiencies in his leadership. Winning games was the expectation, especially this year, when the pressure to perform was mounting, with insiders revealing that Daboll’s job security had been under scrutiny since last season.

Giants co-owner John Mara was explicit about the team’s expectations moving forward, insisting that the franchise demands significantly better results if there were to be any consideration of a fifth year as head coach. “It better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience,” Mara stated emphatically at the time, highlighting the urgency for immediate improvement.

Not long ago, Daboll was celebrated for the emotion and passion he brought to the sidelines—qualities that, ironically, contributed to his undoing. What was once seen as a driving force behind his initial success gradually became a factor in the team's ongoing disappointments.

Despite all this, where does New York go from here with Joe Schoen still at the helm as GM? Is it really a new regime with just a change of head coach? That question remains to be answered, but we will have to see as Schoen leads the search for the Big Blue’s next man in charge.