The Atlanta Falcons‘ announcement of their first cellphone name with John Harbaugh prompted the Giants to shout their curiosity from the rooftops:
They’re all in on the previous Baltimore Ravens head coach.
Chris Mara — whose present title within the Giants group is “senior player personnel executive, board director” — informed The Athletic that he met Harbaugh for lunch on Sunday and had a casual assembly on the coach’s home.
That’s much more vital than it sounds.
Chris Mara, the brother of co-owner John Mara, has stepped ahead in current months throughout John Mara’s grueling most cancers battle. When John Mara stopped occurring common highway journeys with the staff for video games, Chris Mara was the rating member of the Mara household attending away video games.
So it’s vital to grasp: This isn’t only a member of the proudly owning Mara household exhibiting robust curiosity within the former Ravens coach. That is the highest-ranking member of the present ‘traveling’ Mara possession household going to Harbaugh’s home.
That is what a full-court press from the Giants appears to be like like in an effort to land their No. 1 goal on the teaching market.
Mike Tomlin’s resolution to step down as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach on Tuesday threatened to shake up the teaching search much more, but it surely’s additionally doable Tomlin will step away from teaching to do TV at FOX.
So for now, Harbaugh, 63, is the clear Giants precedence, and he’s weighing his choices earlier than leaping into the formal interview course of.
He already has spoken to new Falcons president Matt Ryan, as Atlanta surprisingly introduced after a cellphone name on Monday. And the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns are also vacancies to think about as threats.
The Giants are beginning to appear like stronger contenders in that discipline than they did final week, with the Dolphins hiring Inexperienced Bay’s Jon-Eric Sullivan as GM, the Titans scraping the underside of the barrel for interviews with Jason Garrett and Brian Daboll and the Browns clinging to a few of their employees.
Atlanta is considered as the most important challenger of the present openings. However the job that lurks as the best doable risk is the Packers gig — if it opens.
Head coach Matt LaFleur and the group reportedly are anticipated to attempt to work out a contract extension getting into the ultimate yr of his present deal. Till Inexperienced Bay re-signs LaFleur, although, hypothesis will persist that the Packers nonetheless may commerce or fireplace their head coach after one more playoff disappointment regardless of his spectacular common season observe file.
And if the Packers’ job opens, the Giants may lose management of their very own future as a result of attract of teaching a landmark Inexperienced Bay franchise that already has a longtime quarterback in Jordan Love, a gifted roster and a playoff staff in place.
If LaFleur stays in Inexperienced Bay, nevertheless, the Giants conceivably may find yourself within the driver’s seat.
If the Falcons supplied Harbaugh more cash and management, however the Giants had a extra enticing quarterback scenario and a extra historic model, which might Harbaugh select?
That is still to be seen.
However what is evident from Chris Mara’s go to — and from the Giants’ speedy leaking of their pursuit in response to Atlanta’s announcement — is that New York desires everybody to know that they’re attempting their hardest to land Harbaugh.
And that they need Harbaugh to see that almost all of all.
