There is a good chance the Giants on Tuesday had their next head coach in the building. Whether the in-person interview with Brian Daboll turns into a hiring remains to be seen.
By this weekend, the Giants should have their new head coach in place. But this could drag on a bit longer than that. At this point, it is more likely to be Daboll than anyone else, but things can change.
Daboll, the Bills’ offensive coordinator, was the first of six candidates to come in for a second interview. No introduction was needed between Daboll and Joe Schoen, the Giants’ newly hired general manager, as the two worked together the past four years in Buffalo. Daboll met with co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch and also Chris Mara, the senior vice president of player personnel. He also met with other members of the front office and toured the team facility.
Patrick Graham, still under contract as the Giants’ defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, gets his chance on Wednesday to convince people he already knows quite well that he deserves a promotion to replace his very good friend, recently fired Joe Judge. Graham, considered a long shot, will also get the opportunity to make an impression on Schoen, someone with whom he has never worked.
On Thursday, Brian Flores arrives. Unlike Daboll, who had a teleconference first interview Friday evening, this is the first time Flores and the Giants will get together. He is a better known commodity than Daboll, with certainly enough success in his three years as the Dolphins head coach (24-25, no playoff appearances) to warrant a serious look. The Giants’ contingent will present a list of questions for Flores to get to the bottom of why he had a falling out in Miami, why he supposedly had a deteriorating relationship with Dolphins GM Chris Grier, why he cycled through offensive coordinators (three in three years) and how he would differentiate himself from the often heavy-handed Bill Belichick coaching methodology he learned in his 11 years working for the Patriots.
The Flores interview will fulfill the Rooney Rule requirement that stipulates a team must meet in person with at least one minority candidate from outside its organization.
The first group of candidates on Schoen’s list were Daboll, Flores, Dan Quinn (Cowboys defensive coordinator and former Falcons head coach), Lou Anarumo (Bengals defensive coordinator), Leslie Frazier (Bills defensive coordinator and former Vikings head coach) and Graham.
Interestingly and perhaps unexpectedly, after Daboll’s interview on Tuesday, the Giants reconvened and decided to bring Frazier in for an in-person interview. This does not necessarily indicate Daboll did not hit his interview out of the park. A source said Daboll’s meeting with the Giants “went well.’’ Schoen certainly has a relationship with Frazier and perhaps Schoen felt Frazier deserved a chance to meet with Giants’ brass a second time. This will come on Friday.
If none of these candidates — Daboll is the favorite, with Flores in contention — wows the Giants’ brain trust, there is a second group Schoen has put together and additional interviews could take place. It is believed Doug Pederson, the Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Eagles, is on that list. Raheem Morris, the Rams defensive coordinator and former Buccaneers head coach, could also be on that list.
It will be a big upset if the Giants get through the next few days and determine both Daboll and Flores are not right for them. Schoen comes highly regarded from Buffalo and he built a solid connection with Daboll during their four years together. That does not mean Schoen wants to rubber-stamp Daboll, but it does mean Flores has some catching up to do.
The candidacy of Daboll, 46, will never be hotter, considering how Josh Allen and the Bills played on offense in their excruciating 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs in an all-time classic AFC divisional playoff game. Daboll is a top option for the Dolphins’ head-coaching vacancy created by the surprise dismissal of Flores. Would Daboll rather work in the sun of Miami with Tua Tagovailoa or in the swamps of Jersey with Daniel Jones? Will he be in position to make that choice?
Weeks apart this season, Daboll lost both his grandparents, Ruth and Chris, who raised him in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca. Bills players rallied around Daboll, who they call “Dabes.’’ Word out of Buffalo is that Daboll is approachable, personable and is comfortable in his byplay with the media. He will chat-up reporters on the field before practice and this season actually asked one of them how their dog was doing — there was a Twitter post concerning the pet. When a beat reporter passed out (it turned out to be nothing serious) in a preseason open practice, Daboll was one of the first to make sure the reporter was doing fine afterwards.
Daboll cannot bring Allen with him to the Giants, but he can detail exactly how he helped develop an athletic but raw quarterback into a lethal weapon on the field.
“I think teams would be foolish not to offer Brian Daboll a job,” Allen said Monday. “I’m praying they don’t, because I want him back here, but I love him and his family too much to really think that. I think he’s one of the best coaches in the league.”
Daboll could be next in line for the Giants.
