Shortly after the New York Giants fell to 2-8 on the season when they suffered a 24-20 loss at the Chicago Bears (6-3) on Sunday afternoon, Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II insisted that he believed head coach Brian Daboll could help the team turn things around.
Giants co-owner John Mara clearly disagreed with Lawrence’s assessment.
Giants show Brian Daboll the door after fourth straight loss
ESPN’s Adam Schefter (h/t Jordan Raanan) confirmed on Monday afternoon that Daboll is out as the Giants’ head coach. Schefter added that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will be the club’s interim head coach for the remainder of the campaign.
Both general manager Joe Schoen and Daboll accepted their jobs with the Giants following the 2021 season. In his first campaign as head coach, Daboll guided Big Blue to a playoff berth and a road postseason victory.
However, Schoen and Daboll seemingly never recovered from handing quarterback Daniel Jones a four-year contract in March 2023. The Giants have gone 11-33 since that deal was inked, and the club parted ways with Jones in November 2024.
Why would Giants fire Brian Daboll now?
On Nov. 6, a report emerged claiming that the Giants were ready to fire Daboll after the club’s collapse at the Denver Broncos on Oct. 19 before “cooler heads prevailed.” The Giants surrendered 33 fourth-quarter points in what became a 33-32 loss in Denver.
Schefter noted that the 2025 Giants have blown four double-digit leads in four road losses since Week 2. Both Daboll and Kafka received criticism from fans on social media regarding their handling of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart after Dart suffered a concussion during the team’s loss to Chicago. Dart has been evaluated for concussions on four occasions since the preseason.
Some understandably assumed the Giants wouldn’t want to separate Dart and Daboll until at least the team’s bye in Week 14. Perhaps Monday’s developments show the Giants expect Dart will be sidelined for the Nov. 16 home game against the Green Bay Packers, or maybe Mara and Co. simply decided they no longer wanted Dart to develop under Daboll.
Either way, the Giants will now get to see how Kafka handles serving as an interim head coach for longer than a few weeks.
