Neither New York Giants legend Phil Simms nor his son, Chris, had the opportunity to work through a John Harbaugh-led training camp.
By the sound of things, both former quarterbacks are fine with not living the Harbaugh experience up close.
“From things my dad has told me, [the players] are going, ‘He’s working us,’” Chris said on NBC Sports’ “PFT Live” this week.
Chris said that another player told his father, “Man, I’ve never been part of a training camp like this.” Which, given how much of the roster consists of players who arrived during the Brian Daboll era, is fascinating and telling.
John Harbaugh’s New York Giants practice mindset keeps turning heads
Considering the sources, Chris Simms’ comments are especially noteworthy. The elder Simms spent most of his career playing for Bill Parcells and practicing against a Bill Belichick-led defense. Chris played his first five seasons under Jon Gruden, and nothing sounds more exciting than two-a-day practices in the Florida humidity.
Numerous Giants players have publicly praised Harbaugh and the new coaching staff’s approach to training camp. Even if things can’t be as violent or grueling as they once were, things have certainly been physical this summer. Just ask the Dolphins, who reportedly looked overwhelmed during last month’s joint practices.
All of this is exactly what Giants fans should want to hear ahead of Week 1. This isn’t a case of a rookie head coach pushing the limits of the collective bargaining agreement. Harbaugh reached the postseason 12 times in his 18 seasons with the Ravens, and six of those instances involved an AFC North title.
Harbaugh and the staff, many of whom previously worked for him or who also come from the Andy Reid coaching tree, know what they’re doing. Compare that to Joe Judge, who often looked like a deer in headlights during his two seasons with the Giants.
Judge and Daboll both failed, in part, because they failed to establish their own identities as head coaches. In Judge’s case, he was yet another instance of a Belichick assistant trying to replicate what worked in New England without realizing that he lacked Tom Brady.
Daboll attempted to follow in Sean McDermott’s footsteps, except with Daniel Jones — and later Jaxson Dart — instead of Josh Allen. Considering that the Bills never reached the Super Bowl in the McDermott era, perhaps Daboll should have found a different source of inspiration.
Harbaugh, on the other hand, created his own “culture,” as overused a word as that is, when he took over the Ravens in 2008. He’d learned from Reid but didn’t need to mimic exactly how the then-Eagles coach ran his organization.
When you do something that impresses a two-time Super Bowl champion, you know that you’re on the right track. Not that there should have been any doubt that Harbaugh had lost his way.
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