The Giants Find Their Man in Brian Daboll
Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports
The New York Football Giants ended their search on Friday for a head coach by hiring Buffalo Bills OC Brian Daboll. Owners John Mara and Steve Tisch signed off on GM Joe Schoen's recommendation to hire Daboll. The Giants odds for hiring someone were around 67% since Buffalo Bill DC Leslie Frazier and former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores were the finalists for the position among other great candidates. Ultimately GM Joe Schoen went with his favorite in Daboll to head turn around the struggling Giants franchise and replace Joe Judge. Judge finished with a record of 10-23 and was fired after two seasons.
Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen have a long connection which made most experts place Daboll high on the short list of candidates. Daboll was the offensive coordinator of the Dolphins in 2011 when Schoen was director of player personnel. The two recently worked together in Buffalo when Schoen was the assistant general manager and Daboll was the OC. Daboll favored Daboll, had seen him rise the ranks and see him work magic to the struggling Bills offense.
Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports
Daboll enters New York with an impressive resume for a first time head coach. Daboll has been in coaching for over 20 years as he began his career as a defensive assistant for the New England Patriots under legendary Bill Belichick. He transitioned to wide receivers coach in 2002, quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets in 2007, and finally offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns under head coach Eric Mangini. Daboll would continue to work as an OC for the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, a quick stop for Nick Saban at Alabama, and the Buffalo Bills. Daboll went back to New England to coach the tight ends.
Daboll has earned 5 Super Bowl rings as an assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England over his career. Daboll even has a college football championship ring to his credit as the offensive coordinator at Alabama in 2017. Daboll was voted the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year last season for the Buffalo Bills. The turnaround of the Bills from the bottom to the top is one of the highlights of his resume
Photo Credit: Buffalo News
Throughout his 20+ years in coaching, Daboll has worked magic with an impressive list of quarterbacks. During his time at Alabama, Daboll worked with QBs Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Both QBs were drafted in the first round and are currently starters in the Bears and Dolphins respectively. Daboll's best project was current Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen. Allen came into the league as a first round pick but a project. He was a big arm talent but raw and only effective scrabbling. Allen was almost considered a bust, but Daboll helped turn Josh Allen into an All-Pro and MVP candidate.
The Giants have hit hard times offensively the past several seasons. After the Giants last made the playoffs, their offense averaged an anemic 16.3 points per game (the worst in the NFL). The Buffalo Bills averaged over 29 points per game over the past two seasons in Daboll's offense.
One of the big reasons both Daboll and Schoen were hired was their collective confidence in quarterback Daniel Jones. Jones is entering his fourth season as Giants quarterback and has shown flashes but hasn't proved himself to be the future of the Giants. Most pundits believe the Giants should move on from Daniel Jones and either enter the draft or trade for an established quarterback. However, Daboll believes in Daniel Jones and this new project is much like the Josh Allen project in Buffalo. A big arm and mobile quarterback who needs guidance to get to that next level. If Daboll can work any type of magic with Jones then the Giants could be headed in the right direction.
Table has the task of building a staff, program and culture that the Giants have sorely lacked. Everyone loved Daboll, even former coach Joe Judge wanted to hire him to his staff 2 years ago but his request was denied. The rumors of possibly getting the quarterbacks coach from the Bills, Ken Dorsey, would be a huge move in the development of Jones. Daboll has most of the Giants fan’s support and his first official tweet highlighting his understanding of the pain of Giants fans has endeared him already. But we have heard this song before, fans want results. We are patient if we know this is moving in the right direction. We hope the hires of Schoen and Daboll is the first and second step in that movement.
