Giants head coach Brian Daboll could be following a similar path of another coach who called MetLife Stadium home not long ago.
On Monday, WFAN’s Greg Giannatti compared Daboll to former Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who after leading Gang Green to a 10-6 record in 2015, his first year as the head coach, went 14-34 the following three seasons (2016-2018).
“The Giants right now are kind of on that same track as where the Jets were in that last year of Todd Bowles,” Giannatti said, via Audacy. “They tore the thing down and had Todd Bowles remain the coach with Sam Darnold as a quarterback as a rookie. They did nothing in the offseason. They were basically in a rebuild year, but Todd Bowles was supposed to win… he had no chance, and got fired.”
Daboll was unable to carry the goodwill and good fortune of the 2022 season into 2023. After leading the Giants to a 9-7 record last season, winning their first playoff game since Super Bowl XLVI, and getting NFL Coach of the Year honors, Big Blue was 6-11 this season and Daboll was far from being lauded for his coaching.
In a report by Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News in January, various anonymous sources revealed the true, toxic nature of Daboll’s coaching style in 2023. Things got so bad that a staffer urged an assistant candidate to stay away.
The report illustrated a coach who folds under pressure, placing blame on others and lacking the ability to maintain his composure. It’s the reason, according to Leonard, that general manager Joe Schoen had to begin listening in on the coaches’ headsets during games.
Daboll’s relationship with former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who resigned on Jan. 8, is well documented, but according to the report, it’s the “constantly second-guessed” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka who “received the brunt of Daboll’s fury.”
In 2024, Daboll will look to recapture some of the magic that had the Giants zooming past a rebuilding period in 2022 before it all fell apart in 2023. If he fails, he may suffer the same fate as Bowles, who was fired following the 2018 season.