The New York Giants have fired head coach Brian Daboll after a 2–8 start to the 2025 season, a move that came a day after New York squandered a 10-point lead in a 24–20 loss to the Chicago Bears. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has been elevated to interim head coach, while general manager Joe Schoen will stay in his role and oversee the search for a permanent replacement.
In a statement, Giants ownership admitted that recent years have fallen far below the organization’s standards and acknowledged mounting frustration among fans, pledging to deliver a “significantly improved” product on the field. They also thanked Daboll for his work and extended best wishes to him and his family.
Daboll was hired in 2022 after a successful run as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator and initially appeared to be the long-awaited answer on the sideline. He led the Giants to a 9–7–1 record in his debut season, securing the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2016 and earning AP NFL Coach of the Year honors. That season peaked with a 31–24 Wild Card win over the Minnesota Vikings — the Giants’ first postseason victory since their Super Bowl XLVI run in the 2011 season — before a 38–7 Divisional Round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The momentum quickly evaporated. New York slipped to 6–11 in 2023 and then plummeted to 3–14 in 2024, a year that included a 10-game losing streak and chronic offensive-line issues. This season continued the trend of late-game failures: Sunday’s defeat to Chicago was another blown advantage, coming weeks after a Week 7 collapse in Denver in which the Giants led the Broncos 19–0 and later 26–8 before losing 33–32.
Daboll exits with a 20–40–1 regular-season record and a 1–1 postseason mark across three-and-a-half years in New York. His .336 winning percentage ranks 154th out of 166 coaches with at least 50 games since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, underscoring how sharply the Giants have fallen since his award-winning first season.
This is just the franchise’s third midseason coaching change since the merger and the latest chapter in a turbulent coaching carousel that began after Tom Coughlin’s departure in 2015. Kafka now inherits a demoralized 2–8 team and an impatient fan base, while Schoen and ownership launch yet another high-stakes search for a head coach capable of reviving one of the NFL’s flagship franchises. The move also raises questions about how the transition will affect the development of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who has shown flashes of potential amid the chaos.
