Most New Year’s resolutions don’t survive the first week. Gym memberships get ignored, diets turn into cheat days, and ‘new year, new me’ energy fizzles out by February. That’s exactly why the New York Giants need to stick to theirs past the first few weeks of 2026.
Hire the right head coach. That's it. That's the New Year's resolution they must follow. They cannot afford to screw it up... again.
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Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, and Brian Daboll -- each seemingly worse than the one before. Those are the last four head coaches the New York Giants have hired in hopes of dragging the franchise back into relevance. All failed. Now, Big Blue’s banking on 2026 being the year they finally get it right.
Given how bad things have gotten, just avoiding a disaster hire would be an upgrade. It’d be hard not to. Unfortunately, they’ve already started off on the wrong foot. General manager Joe Schoen is apparently heading the search up, which feels like an obvious mistake, and Marcus Freeman has already decided to head back to Notre Dame, already taking himself out of the mix.
Buckle up. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Top head coach candidates Giants must consider in 2026
There shouldn't be a shortage of options. Candidates range from Mike McCarthy to Chris Shula to Jeff Hafley to Kliff Kingsbury, to more under-the-radar options like Klint Kubiak and Matt Burke.
There also won’t be a lack of interest. Despite the bleak outlook on the field, this is still a job with real appeal. The G-Men have a promising rookie quarterback in Jaxson Dart, who's proven he's the guy moving forward (even if the media pretends he's not), a prime draft pick, and enough defensive talent to build something competent quickly if the right leader is running point.
For the first time in a while, the foundation isn’t completely broken. It just needs someone who knows how to actually use it.
That’s why this search has to be all-encompassing -- we're talking no stone unturned. Retreads like McCarthy make sense for stability. Coordinators like Shula or Jeff Hafley bring fresh ideas and energy.
Even long-time options like Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh could be in play if either is let go at the end of the season. Whoever gets the job has to command the locker room, develop Dart and his surrounding pieces, and hold the players and coaches accountable when things go off the rails.
The Giants don’t need another resolution they abandon by February. They need to finally follow through because if another hire goes sideways again, there won't be a fan base left to root for this team ever again.