After weeks of fan frustration and calls for accountability inside and outside the building, the New York Giants have officially fired head coach Brian Daboll. The move comes after another brutal 24-20 fourth-quarter collapse against the Chicago Bears — this one featuring rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart exiting with a concussion.
NFL insiders Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport report the team is elevating offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to interim head coach for the final seven games of the season. Alongside I’m still not sure how he’s here defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, the 38-year-old will try to turn this impromptu audition into something that sticks beyond January.
Once the door slammed shut on the Daboll experiment, it was pretty obvious the G-Men would promote the fourth-year OC. He's garnered interest for several head coaching vacancies in the past couple of hiring cycles. And while he hasn't gotten there yet, what better time to prove himself than right now?
Kafka becomes the first in-season replacement since 2017, when Big Blue fired Ben McAdoo and elevated defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Spags went 1-3 and was quickly passed over for Pat Shurmur that offseason. The first-time head coach will try to do better — or at least make things feel different. Either way, it’s a change, and that alone counts for something around here.
Who is Giants' interim HC Mike Kafka?
Giants fans are about to get familiar with Kafka — whether they like it or not. The Chicago native isn’t new to the building, but this will be his first time running the show.
He came to New York in 2022 as Daboll’s offensive coordinator, fresh off a five-year stint in Kansas City, where he worked directly under Andy Reid and helped mold Patrick Mahomes during his MVP and Super Bowl rise. Did someone say Jaxson Dart?
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Before his coaching career began, he bounced around the league as a backup quarterback after being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Northwestern Wildcat actually saw playing time in 2011 in four games with Philly.
His career as a player never took off, but it set the stage for what’s quietly become one of the more respected young coaching paths in football. By 2019, he was coaching Mahomes through his MVP season and helping set the stage for the league's next dynasty.
When the Giants hired him, he was seen as a young offensive mind who’d bring some creativity back to a team that hadn’t had much of it in years. In 2022, that actually showed up. He called plays for a group that overachieved its way into the postseason and even won a playoff game with Daniel Jones under center — the team’s first since 2011.
Since then, not much has gone right. Daboll retook play-calling duties in 2024, the offense never found its footing, and Kafka’s role slowly disappeared.
Now he’s front and center again, inheriting a banged-up 2-8 team, an electric rookie quarterback, and a fanbase running low on patience. It’s not the cleanest setup, but for a guy who’s spent his career waiting for a shot, this is the one. What happens next probably won’t change the season, but it could change a lot of future conversations and decisions. For a franchise in desperate need of direction, even a little stability would feel like progress.