Giants fire Brian Daboll, who won NFL Coach of the Year in his first season with team, after 2-8 start.
Brian Daboll had a hot start with the New York Giants. Then the results bottomed out.The New York Giants have fired Brian Daboll after an abysmal 2-8 start, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday.
Giants ownership was clear about needing better results after the Giants went 3-14 last season, but gave Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen another season. There was some new energy with the Giants when Jaxson Dart, the team's first-round pick, was promoted to starting quarterback. There was even a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, who won last season's Super Bowl. But the losses far outnumbered the wins.
Daboll got the Giants job due to his role in the development of Josh Allen when Daboll was the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills. Daboll wasn't able to get similar results out of Daniel Jones, who is now in the middle of a fine season with the Colts. Dart had promising moments, but injuries to Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo set back the Giants as a team. Daboll wasn't able to overcome that.
Daboll's first season as Giants head coach was a successful one. The Giants were far from a dominant team but rode a string of close wins to the playoffs, where they beat the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round. That led to Daboll getting a Coach of the Year award. It also led to the Giants signing Jones to a four-year, $160 million deal.
Nothing went right after that. Jones never developed into more than a below-average starter with the Giants. The Giants started the 2023 season with a 40-0 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys and never recovered, going 6-11. The 2024 season, after Saquon Barkley left to the Eagles in free agency, was even worse. The Giants had a 10-game losing streak and Jones was benched and cut during it. New York finished 3-14. Jones emergence this season with the Colts wasn't a great look for Daboll or the Giants.
Giants owner John Mara said he wanted to be patient with Daboll and Schoen even as the losses piled up. The tone after the season was that both Daboll and Schoen needed to win games.
“It better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience,” Giants co-owner John Mara said after the 2024 season. "That'll be a good sound bite for you tonight, huh?"
There is some exciting young talent on hand for the Giants, starting with Dart. That will make the job an easier sell to candidates. Daboll could get another shot to be a head coach down the line as well, mostly due to his work with Allen and that Coach of the Year season to start his Giants career.
But it wasn't working out in New York. There were too many losses. Giants ownership was tired of waiting for the record to improve.
