Brian Daboll Firing: Jon Gruden’s Connection With Jaxson Dart Makes Him a Fan Favorite for Giants HC

Even though his first regular season as the head coach of the New York Giants proved to be a mixed bag, a divisional round loss in the 2022 playoffs suggested that there was some hope for Brian Daboll and the G-Men. Since then, however, New York has yet to produce a winning season, and thanks to their lopsided loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9, they now have an 11-31 record throughout the past three years.

Daboll was presumably on the hot seat before the 2025 regular season even started. Now that the Giants are sitting at 2-6 and are firmly at the bottom of the NFC East rankings, many are calling for the front office to finally make a change, and a particular few, including A to Z Sports’ Joe DeLeonee, believe that Jon Gruden may just be the man for the job.

“A lot of Giants fans are pushing for Jon Gruden,” DeLeonee noted following New York’s 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3.

“A big reason why a lot of people like the idea of Jon Gruden, is because he’s so vocal on social media and on his show on Barstool Sports about how much he loves Jaxson Dart. Having somebody who’s bought into Jaxson Dart right off of the bat is huge.”

Anytime a franchise decides to seek out a brand new head coach, the new hire typically wants to establish his own brand of football, and that often includes picking a quarterback of their choice. Considering that the Giants just spent the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Dart, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to bring in an HC who is opposed to Dart or his skillset.

Of course, that isn’t the case with the former Super Bowl champion in Gruden, who, as noted, has repeatedly gushed about Dart on various programs.

“Jaxson Dart is one of those guys I’ve been waiting for,” Gruden exclaimed prior to his viral pre-draft interview with the USC product.

“He’s the Evel Knievel of quarterbacks. I have never seen a guy play the position like this. He takes people on physically… He’ll take big hits and deliver strikes. He’s a great competitor and I’d love to coach him.”

At the time, that seemed to be nothing more than praise for the next man up, but as we continue to creep towards the inevitable end of the Daboll era, it’s starting to seem as if Gruden may have been dropping some potential hints all along.

Of course, only time can tell as to whether or not that will be the case, but it’s rather hard not to get excited about the grit and tenacity that Gruden could bring to what has already proven to be a rather feisty roster.