Brian Daboll arrived with big-time hype.
When the Giants employed Daboll as head coach in January of 2022, they envisioned him bringing offensive ingenuity and instilling a sturdy tradition just like the one he helped construct because the Buffalo Payments’ offensive coordinator over the earlier 4 seasons.
And whereas Daboll’s tenure acquired off to a promising begin, that imaginative and prescient in the end by no means got here to fruition.
The Giants fired Daboll on Monday, halfway by means of his fourth season, and named offensive coordinator Mike Kafka the interim head coach. Daboll went 20-40-1 because the Giants’ head coach, together with 2-8 this 12 months.
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch mentioned in a joint assertion.
The ultimate straw was Sunday’s 24-20 loss in Chicago, throughout which standout rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a concussion and the Giants blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.
However there have been many steps alongside the best way that led to Monday’s unceremonious ousting.
Right here’s a glance again at how the Giants and Daboll acquired so far:
DABOLL HIRED
The Giants employed Daboll, one in every of that cycle’s hottest candidates, per week after they employed Joe Schoen away from the Payments to be their basic supervisor.
Daboll earned plaudits for serving to to develop Payments quarterback Josh Allen, who entered the NFL as a uncooked prospect however become an MVP candidate beneath Daboll’s tutelage.
Contemporary off of a 4-13 marketing campaign, the Giants hoped Daboll would discover comparable success with one other younger quarterback in Daniel Jones, who was coming into his fourth season.
Dan Quinn and Brian Flores had been among the many different coaches to interview for the job that offseason.
STRONG START
The Daboll period started with a bang, because the Giants upset the Tennessee Titans — the reigning AFC No. 1 seed — with a come-from-behind 21-20 win in Week 1.
Quite than try an additional level that may tie the sport, Daboll went for the win after the Giants’ ultimate landing. Saquon Barkley scored a go-ahead two-point conversion to cap an announcement victory.
The Giants continued to exceed expectations by leaping out to a 7-2 file, and whereas they slowed down throughout the stretch run, they completed 9-7-1 to earn a wild-card spot.
Jones set profession highs with 3,205 passing yards and 708 dashing yards, and he totaled 22 touchdowns in opposition to solely six turnovers.
Daboll was named the NFL’s Coach of the 12 months.
PLAYOFF WIN
The Giants additional shocked the NFL with an upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings within the first spherical of the playoffs, with Jones passing for 2 touchdowns and Barkley operating for 2 extra to gasoline a 31-24 win on the highway.
The Giants got here crashing right down to earth within the second spherical with a humbling 38-7 loss to the rival Philadelphia Eagles.
Nonetheless, it was a profitable season for a Giants staff that appeared to be forward of schedule.
JONES EXTENSION
The next offseason proved to be a major one within the Giants’ trajectory, as they signed Jones to a front-loaded four-year, $160 million contract extension whereas utilizing the franchise tag on Barkley.
Though the Daboll-Schoen regime didn’t draft Jones, the extension served as a present of religion — at the least within the brief time period — in him as their franchise quarterback.
Barkley, in the meantime, didn’t get the long-term contract he sought and agreed to play the 2023 season on an adjusted one-year take care of incentives.
2023 SEASON
The magic of Daboll’s debut season shortly wore off in 12 months two because the Giants spiraled to a 2-8 begin.
Jones missed all however six video games attributable to a neck harm and a season-ending ACL tear, and his play regressed when he was on the sphere.
Throughout a Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Daboll infamously flipped a pill in frustration after talking with Jones on the bench.
The Giants went 4-3 of their ultimate seven video games, with three of these wins coming in video games began by undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito.
WINK MARTINDALE LEAVES
The 2024 offseason acquired off to an inauspicious begin when defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and the Giants agreed to half methods.
Martindale’s relationship with Daboll had deteriorated throughout the 2023 season, and the previous was reportedly livid after Daboll fired two members of his defensive employees.
The Giants changed Martindale with Shane Bowen. They fired particular groups coordinator Thomas McGaughey and changed him with Michael Ghobrial.
2024 OFFSEASON
The remainder of the Giants’ 2024 offseason was full of drama.
First, Barkley left in free company for the Eagles.
Subsequent, the Giants had been unsuccessful of their makes an attempt to commerce up in that 12 months’s NFL Draft to pick out a quarterback, with Drake Maye mostly linked to them.
“I wasn’t fired up about it,” Jones would later admit of the Giants’ curiosity within the younger quarterbacks.
Each sagas had been broadcast for the world to see on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
2024 SEASON
The common season proved to be extra of the identical, because the Giants once more began 2-8.
The Giants benched, then launched Jones, who had eight touchdowns in opposition to seven interceptions in these 10 video games.
They alternated between DeVito, Drew Lock and Tim Boyle at quarterback the remainder of the best way, ending 3-14 in what was the franchise’s one centesimal season.
Barkley, in the meantime, delivered the ninth 2,000-yard dashing season in NFL historical past and led the Eagles to a Tremendous Bowl championship.
DABOLL, SCHOEN RETAINED
Regardless of the 2024 disappointment, Giants possession retained Daboll and Schoen.
Mara instructed reporters in January, nevertheless, “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.”
That put stress on the Giants to stability planning for the long run with successful within the current.
DRAFTING DART
For the primary time in Daboll’s tenure, the Giants drafted a quarterback, buying and selling as much as No. 25 to pick out the dual-threat Dart out of Ole Miss.
Daboll recognized Dart because the QB to construct round, tying his future to the 22-year-old prospect.
Nonetheless, the concept was for Dart to develop behind veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, who each signed within the offseason.
2025 SEASON
The Giants started 0-3 beneath Wilson, and Daboll made an earlier-than-expected swap to Dart earlier than Week 4.
Dart gave the Giants an prompt jolt, going 2-1 in his first three begins, with the wins coming over contenders within the Los Angeles Chargers and Eagles.
In the course of the Week 6 win, Dart was evaluated for a concussion, and Daboll created controversy by poking his head into the medical tent to test on Dart’s standing. Daboll was fined $100,000 for the rule violation.
The Giants appeared poised to win once more in Week 7, as they led by 19 factors going into the fourth quarter in Denver. However the Giants unraveled in historic trend, surrendering 33 factors within the fourth to lose, 33-32, to the Broncos.
That was the primary of 4 consecutive Large losses, the latest of which being Sunday’s in Chicago.
Dart took an enormous third-quarter hit in Sunday’s loss. He performed two snaps on the Giants’ subsequent drive, then got here out of the sport between the third and fourth quarters. He was later dominated out with a concussion.
With Wilson at quarterback, the Giants had an opportunity to take a two-touchdown lead within the fourth, however they had been stopped on the objective line twice. Quite than go for it on fourth down on the 1-yard line, Daboll opted to kick a 19-yard area objective, placing the Giants up by 10.
The Caleb Williams-led Bears then scored two late touchdowns because the Giants’ offense stagnated.
It was the fourth recreation this season that the Giants misplaced after main by at the least 10 factors.
DABOLL FIRED
The Giants introduced Daboll’s firing on Monday afternoon, with Mara and Tisch saying they spoke in regards to the determination that morning.
Daboll, the twentieth head coach in Giants historical past, is the fourth to be fired throughout the season.
That is the third 12 months in a row that the Giants are off to a 2-8 begin. They’re one loss away from clinching a 3rd consecutive dropping season.
“We understand the frustrations of our fans,” Mara and Tisch mentioned, “and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
