Kevin Stefanski and Jaxson Dart received alongside effectively earlier than final 12 months’s NFL Draft.
Dart favored the Cleveland Browns’ offensive scheme. Stefanski, then the Browns’ head coach, was intrigued by Dart’s expertise and make-up.
“Coach Stefanski is great,” Dart stated Monday. “He’s had a really good career, especially from the offensive side of things. I thought the visit with him and his staff went well, and he’s a really good coach.”
The Giants knew the Browns had eyes for Dart, which is a part of the rationale they traded over Cleveland at No. 33 general to take the quarterback out of Ole Miss within the first spherical.
Now Stefanski, 43, and Dart have an opportunity to work collectively in New York.
The Giants are certainly one of a number of groups anticipated to interview Stefanski, together with the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans, at the very least, for his or her head teaching emptiness after the Cleveland Browns fired him on Monday, per ESPN.
“We are going to find the best leader for the franchise,” stated GM Joe Schoen, who’s determined to seek out somebody who may also help enhance his .323 successful share.
Stefanski is an intriguing choice in a skinny class of candidates with NFL head teaching expertise, which incorporates former Packers and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who received a Tremendous Bowl in Inexperienced Bay.
The Philadelphia native, who climbed the ladder with the Minnesota Vikings from 2006-2019 earlier than getting the job in Cleveland, posted a 45-56 common season document (.446) in six seasons because the Browns’ head coach.
He was the NFL’s Coach of the Yr award winner twice. He received 11 video games apiece within the 2020 and 2023 seasons. And he captured the Browns’ first playoff win since 1994 in his first Browns season with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
However Browns proprietor Jimmy Haslam compelled an costly 2022 commerce for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and paid Watson a completely assured $230 million contract.
And Watson’s scandal and accidents compromised the Browns’ operation, resulting in an ungainly 2025 NFL Draft that noticed the Browns draft two QBs — Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders — with Haslam meddling closely once more.
The Giants have their very own issues, after all. Their main want is to revive professionalism and accountability to their locker room and their tradition.
“Someone that wants to win, that can handle the pressure, that can lead us,” tight finish Theo Johnson stated of what the Giants’ wants at head coach. “Someone who gets the most out of his players and is able to relate to them.”
The Giants might want to do their very own homework on whether or not Stefanski could be that badly wanted CEO and new sheriff on the town. The Browns went 8-26 in his closing two seasons there, and it’s necessary to do a full post-mortem on what went fallacious.
However persevering with to develop and unlock Dart can be an enormous precedence on this search, as effectively. And Stefanski is a revered offensive thoughts.
He has been responsible at instances of getting too go blissful when he’s had quarterback beneath middle, much like the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell. However Stefanski’s run schemes, play motion utilization and skill to maneuver the pocket all are confirmed and would play to Dart’s strengths.
“There’s several criteria that we’re going to look for, leadership being an important element in the head coaching world,” Schoen stated. “Football acumen will be important. Player development is very important, having a plan for player development. We have a young quarterback. It’s going to be important that there’s a plan in terms of Jaxson’s development, holding people accountable and communication.”
Schoen’s forged of Giants interviewees is predicted to incorporate lots of names, together with however not restricted to McCarthy, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
“We’re going to cast a wide net,” Schoen stated. “And there’s no directive that it has to be an offensive guy or defensive guy or special teams or college or whatever it may be, having head coaching experience previously. We are going to find the best leader for the franchise.”
The Giants already confirmed sturdy curiosity in Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, however he elected to remain in faculty one other 12 months. They’re contending with more and more extra vacancies across the league with every passing hour, too.
For the time being, the Titans, Giants, Falcons, Raiders, Cardinals and Browns all have openings at head coach.
Schoen stated he’s been watching a lot of press conferences for coordinators and even has included the “integration of AI” into his analysis, together with making cellphone calls and dispatching a entrance workplace group to canvas prospects.
He disputed that his presence at GM would possibly deter candidates, citing Liam Coen’s want to see Jaguars GM Trent Baalke fired earlier than taking the Jacksonville job final 12 months as an remoted incident.
“It’s actually the opposite,” Schoen insisted. “There’s a lot of excitement.”
However clearly the Jags, led by new GM James Gladstone and Coen, have turned their group round instantly and received the AFC South. In order that’s a transparent blueprint for cleansing home and beginning contemporary.
And it’s doable that the extra skilled the candidate, like Stefanski, the extra possible that coach is to wish to herald his personal allies on the personnel aspect. That is still to be seen.
Schoen returning for a fifth season, with seven wins mixed the previous two years, additionally places the onus on the Giants’ subsequent head coach to win in 2026. Is {that a} twister of stress {that a} coveted candidate like Stefanski is prepared to step into when different choices would possibly current extra stability and certainty?
Possession and Schoen should unravel these solutions of their interviews.
“Ultimately it’s ownership’s decision, but I imagine that’s gonna be a collaborative effort,” Schoen stated of the Giants’ hiring course of.
Stefanski already has two clear benefits within the Giants’ search, although: he’s finished the job earlier than, and he needs to teach Dart.
