You can exhale now, New York Giants fans. After hours of constant reports that a contract was not yet finalized, pen was put to paper on Saturday. John Harbaugh, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, is now the new head coach of the Giants.
The Giants were given a major lifeline by the Ravens after they decided to fire Harbaugh after 18 years on the job. The Giants, who went the route of the coordinator in their previous two head coaching searches, wanted a CEO-type sideline boss.
Harbaugh hit the open market, and the Giants set their sights on him and made sure he would not go to another team. They pulled out all the stops to make sure he would be their next head coach, including various people with ties to the Giants vouching for the job.
But who convinced Harbaugh the most to take the job?
Harbaugh spoke exclusively with The Athletic's Ian O'Connor after he finalized his contract to coach the Giants. When O'Connor asked which ex-Giant's input really swayed him to take the job, it was former two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Tom Coughlin.
John Harbaugh reveals Tom Coughlin's input played major role in accepting Giants head coach job
"Tom Coughlin. He was a big part of this process for me. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Tom. I've admired him as a coach & friend, and he really encouraged me to go forward with the Giants," said Harbaugh.
As if there wasn't any more reason for the Giants to love Coughlin, they have even more. Coughlin helping convince Harbaugh to accept the head coaching job? That's another thing Giants fans can thank Coughlin for.
Coughlin wasn't the only ex-Giant to tell Harbaugh that he should take the head coaching job. Quarterback Eli Manning and recently fired head coach Brian Daboll also gave glowing reviews of the organization to Harbaugh.
Ironically, the Giants have been frequent riders on the coaching carousel. After the 2015 season, 12 years on the job, the team decided it was time to part ways with Coughlin. Even though Coughlin brought two Lombardi Trophies to the Giants, his final four years saw the team miss out on the playoffs. They thought it was best to move on.
While it may have been time to move on, the Giants have swung and missed on multiple head coaches.
The Giants promoted Ben McAdoo to head coach after serving as offensive coordinator under Coughlin. The Giants made the playoffs in 2016, but were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers days after the notorious "boat photo." 2017 was abysmal, and the benching of Eli Manning for Geno Smith proved to be McAdoo's undoing, as he was fired days after that decision.
Next up was Pat Shurmur, who made a name for himself as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, especially during their run to the NFC Championship Game in 2017. Not to mention, Shurmur had head coaching experience, but it was an unsuccessful tenure with the Cleveland Browns.
Shurmur lasted just two years, going 9-23. Even after his offense helped out then-rookie quarterback Daniel Jones in 2019, Shurmur was let go.
The Giants missed out on Matt Rhule to the Carolina Panthers, which may have been a bullet dodged. But the Giants settled for Joe Judge, who certainly talked the talk. But the former New England Patriots special teams coordinator could not walk the walk. His first season saw the Giants go 6-10, and they barely missed out on the playoffs (the NFC East was atrocious that year).
But in 2021, the Giants finished in last place in the division with a 4-13 record. Judge did himself no favors by publicly trying to save his job during a post-game press conference and a season-finale in which he called for two quarterback sneaks deep in the Giants' territory to get into better punting position. Judge was initially going to be retained, but was ultimately fired after going 10-23.
Daboll entered with much fanfare, given his work as offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills. His first year made it look as though he would be the next great coach, considering he worked with Dave Gettleman's scraps, led them to the playoffs, and picked up a huge Wild Card Round win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Things were looking up for the Giants. It all went downhill after that. A 6-11 2023 season. A 3-14 2024 season. This season, Daboll was fired after going 2-8, highlighted by multiple blown fourth quarter leads.
Now, the Giants expect they won't have to go shopping for a new head coach anytime soon. Harbaugh showed during his 18 years in Baltimore that he will deliver consistency in winning and making the playoffs. Harbaugh led the Ravens to the playoffs 12 times in his 18 seasons, won a Super Bowl title in 2012, and held an overall record of 180-113. If nothing else, Harbaugh will give the Giants a higher floor than what fans are used to.
The Giants have their new head coach, and Coughlin helped provide a necessary assist.