With New York Giants heading into a crucial Year 3 under Brian Daboll, the 49-year-old head coach isn’t taking any chances.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Daboll admitted that he’s going to be making one big change regarding the offense this season — one he’s been contemplating since March.
“Yeah, I'm doing (the offensive play-calling),” Daboll bluntly stated, per the Giants' website.
Daboll has plenty of experience as an offensive play-caller. He spent eight years as an NFL offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, plus he was the OC at Alabama for one year during its national championship-winning season in 2017.
“I did it for a long time,” Daboll disclosed at the annual league meeting on March 29, per the Giants' website. “There's a lot of things that go into it. Part of the evaluation that I talked about, there are some other things that I'm looking into. I take my time and do what I think is best for the team.”
Although Daboll wouldn’t elaborate on why exactly he’s making the switch, one has to imagine how bad the offense looked last season under offensive coordinator Mike Kafka factored into it.
The Giants ranked 29th in total offense (280 yards per game) and 30th in points per game (15.6) in 2023, and they ranked in the bottom half of the league the previous year too (18th in yards per game, 15th in points per game.)
Don’t think we need to speculate any further on if Brian Daboll is taking over playcalling for Mike Kafka pic.twitter.com/LyAqqIRE6h
— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) May 30, 2024
Daboll’s decision was also presumably influenced by the number of jobs potentially on the line as well.
Some analysts believe Daboll himself is coaching for his job this season after a 6-11 season last year, plus general manager Joe Schoen, quarterback Daniel Jones and Kafka could all be on the chopping block if the Giants get off to a rocky start.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!