EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday after the team surrendered another double-digit lead in Sunday’s loss at Chicago.
Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch released a joint statement saying, “The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise. We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will serve as interim coach. Kafka had been a finalist for multiple head-coaching jobs over the past two years. Joe Schoen will remain the Giants’ general manager and will lead the search for Daboll’s permanent replacement.
“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” Mara said. “Unfortunately, the results over the past three years have not been what any of us want. We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans expect.” Tisch added, “These are difficult decisions, and John and I do not take them lightly, but we feel like this is the right thing to do at this time and will allow us to move forward.”
No other coaching-staff changes were reported Monday.
The Giants (2-8) have won just two of their first 10 games for the third consecutive year and are 11-33 since the start of the 2023 season. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a concussion in the 24-20 loss to the Bears, his fourth concussion evaluation this year, including the preseason.
Daboll was asked Sunday if he was worried about his job and said, “I’m just focused on these guys in the locker room.”
Daboll won 2022 Coach of the Year in his first season with New York when the Giants went 9-7-1 and won a playoff game. He was widely credited for pushing to draft Dart and for early development of the roster, but the team has struggled to close games. New York has blown double-digit leads in four road games this season and twice lost games after leading by at least 10 points with under four minutes remaining — a mark matched only by the 2004 Seattle Seahawks since the NFL merger.
Daboll finished 20-40-1 as the Giants’ head coach, a .336 winning percentage that ranks below coaches such as Ben McAdoo and Ray Perkins. His four years with the team included a contentious split with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale after the 2023 season, a $100,000 fine earlier this year for approaching the medical tent while Dart was being evaluated for a concussion, and other episodes that drew attention, including flipping a tablet at former quarterback Daniel Jones and several staff changes. At one point Schoen had monitored coaching headsets to evaluate in-game communication.
Daboll was hired after four seasons as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator, where he played a key role in Josh Allen’s development, and after multiple assistant stints under Bill Belichick in New England.
Bills coach Sean McDermott said Monday there was no consideration at this time of reaching out to Daboll about rejoining Buffalo’s staff.
ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.
