Over the last week, there has been a critical focus on longtime Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who was fired after 18 seasons with the organization. Many fans around the league are wondering where the former Super Bowl Champion will coach next season.
Several teams have expressed interest in the 63-year-old, such as the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, and Tennessee Titans. The Falcons conducted a formal interview with him on Monday; however, Giants executive Chris Mara met with him at his home in Baltimore late last week, and Harbaugh is reportedly in New Jersey for his first in-person interview with the Giants at their facility on Wednesday, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
There's mutual interest between Big Blue and Harbaugh. Since the G-Men are the only team eligible to hire a coach as of today, they may not want to let Harbaugh leave the building without a contract to become the franchise's head coach, which means we could be seeing the news sometime this week, and as early as today or tomorrow if all goes well.
The New York Giants seem determined to make John Harbaugh their new head coach
Tony Grossi of ESPN reported that Harbaugh is seeking around $20 million annually, a $10 million staff budget, total roster control, and the ability to choose his own general manager. He is also prioritizing teams with strong quarterback situations and significant draft capital.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported late last week that Harbaugh plans to spend the next few days watching film of quarterbacks Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart, which is good news for Giants fans who watched Dart have an impressive rookie campaign under center.
The Giants check off many of the boxes Harbaugh is looking for in his next team; the question is how much power they would give him over significant roster control and change within the organization, such as potentially making a change at general manager, which could result in Joe Schoen being fired.
Regardless of how that may affect the front office, the Mara and Tisch families and Big Blue fans believe that Harbaugh could be "the guy" who turns this ship around and the head coaching candidate who could help develop Dart and the pieces around him the most.
Many people around the organization have also been hyping up this job to Harbaugh, including Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning, Phil Simms, and even, by surprise, Brian Daboll. That tells you everything you need to know about why this is the most attractive job available.
The ball is in the Giants' hands to throw a touchdown and land Harbaugh as their next head coach before another team does, because there may not be another opportunity to land a coach of his caliber like this for them in a while.