Why the Giants reportedly hired Matt Nagy over Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator

It's no secret that New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh settled on selecting former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as the Giants' new OC this winter after other candidates embraced opportunities elsewhere. 

Specifically, Todd Monken became the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns before Davis Webb accepted a promotion to remain with the Denver Broncos. 

Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury had been seen by some as the favorite to win the Giants' OC job before the Nagy news went public. On Tuesday, NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY explained why Harbaugh went with Nagy over Kingsbury.

Kliff Kingsbury was never a great fit for John Harbaugh?

"His scheme didn’t entirely align with Harbaugh’s ideologies," Hughes shared about Kingsbury. "Kingsbury prefers an abundance of hurry-up, which when it’s working, is great. When it’s not, it wears his own defense down. Harbaugh is believed to prefer things more balanced. The Giants called Kingsbury on Tuesday to inform him he wasn’t getting the job."

Hughes added that the Giants also "valued" Nagy’s head-coaching experience, his work with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the time he has spent with legendary head coach Andy Reid. Nagy was part of Reid's Kansas City staffs from 2013-17 and from 2022 through this season.

Nagy recently left the Chiefs to pursue head-coaching and play-calling offensive coordinator jobs. 

Meanwhile, Kingsbury and Washington head coach Dan Quinn reportedly disagreed on "what style of offense to run moving forward...with Quinn wanting to run the ball more to control the clock and help the defense" before Kingsbury and the Commanders parted ways in January.

Would Giants have hired Charlie Weis Jr. over Matt Nagy

The Giants had also been linked with LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. before he decided to stay put. It sounds like Harbaugh may have preferred Weis over Nagy. 

"There were many within the Giants building who fancied Charlie Weis Jr. once Monken wasn’t possible, largely because of his relationship with quarterback Jaxson Dart," Hughes noted. "The two worked together, with Weis his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for three years at Ole Miss. Dart, sources told SNY, made his desire to work with Weis again well known."

What's done is done, and Adam Schein of SiriusXM/CBS seems to think the Giants made a "slam dunk" hire in Nagy. NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote that he's also a fan of the Giants landing Nagy. 

"To see why, go back and watch some of Alex Smith from 2017," Breer said while referencing Nagy's first stint as Kansas City's offensive coordinator. "That year, the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes, and implemented a raft of new shifts and motions and spread offense elements to accommodate him — and then applied them with Smith in the lineup. The results, for Smith, were career highs in yards (4,042), touchdowns (26) and rating (104.7)."