Getty New York Giants enter the field before the game against the Washington Football Team at MetLife Stadium on January 9, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The New York Giants are closing in on one of the most sought after head coaching candidates of 2022.
Giants ownership and new general manager Joe Schoen hosted Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for a second interview on Tuesday, January 25. He is the first candidate to meet with the team twice, which means something significant. Daboll has also worked closely with Schoen, who spent the last five seasons as the Bills assistant general manager, throughout his entire tenure as OC in Buffalo, which means a heck of a lot more.
New York officially hired Schoen last Friday, just four days before the team’s second meeting with Daboll and just two days after the OC led the Bills offense in one of the greatest NFL Playoff games ever, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in an epic 42-36 bout that probably came down to a flip of the coin at the beginning of overtime.
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Daboll is the play caller for what has been the NFL’s third-highest scoring offense in each of the last two seasons and is considered to have played a critical role in the development of Bills quarterback Josh Allen into one of the league’s best signal callers. Beyond that, Daboll has been a member of an NFL staff every season since 2000, serving as an offensive coordinator for eight years over his 21-year professional coaching tenure, including the last four seasons in Buffalo.
Daboll’s Coordinator Candidates For Giants Named in Report
GettyBuffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll before a game at New Era Field on October 27, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York.
The resumé is there. The ties to the front office are there. And as for New York, Daboll is literally there right now with owners John Mara and Steve Tisch discussing a possible future as the Giants next head coach.
According to some in the media, like reporter Cam Marino of Player Profiler, Daboll is all but a lock to land the job.
“From what I’ve heard in the last 24 hours, I’d be shocked if Brian Daboll was not named the head coach of the #Giants,” Marino tweeted Monday after news broke that Daboll was headed to New York for a second interview. “Sounds like he brings Ken Dorsey to be his OC and Wink Martindale as his DC. Entire situation heating up in #NewYork.”
Dorsey won a National Championship as the starting quarterback for the University of Miami back in 2001. He played five seasons in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. He appeared in 17 games and started 13 of those, amassing a 2-11 record as an NFL quarterback.
He retired as a player in 2008 and restarted his NFL career as the Carolina Panthers’ quarterbacks coach in 2013. He held that position for five years before the Bills hired him to do the same job during Daboll’s second season as offensive coordinator. Dorsey spent last season as both the quarterbacks coach and the passing game coordinator in Buffalo.
Don “Wink” Martindale’s coaching resumé is 28 years long and includes stints in college with the Universities of Notre Dame and Cincinnati. He coached linebackers with the Las Vegas Raiders back when the team was located in Oakland, the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens.
Martindale also served as defensive coordinator in Denver for one season (2010) before earning the DC job with the Ravens, which he held for the last four years before the team fired him from that position last week.
Other Candidates for Giants Head Coaching Position Remain
GettyNew York Giants owner John Mara stands on the field before a game against the Los Angeles Rams at MetLife Stadium on October 17, 2021 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Daboll has yet to be hired, so his competition for the Giants job can’t be ruled out — and the other candidates are strong ones, including multiple who boast prior NFL head coaching experience.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has already interviewed for the Giants job once. He spent six seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and led the team to the Super Bowl in 2016. The Broncos have also named Quinn one of three finalists for their open head coaching position.
Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frasier, who served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings for just under three and a half years, shares the same ties to the Giants new GM as Daboll does. He has also interviewed once for New York’s top job.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has coached football for 33 straight years, including the last 10 in the NFL. He’s held his current position as the Bengals DC for the last three seasons and coached defensive backs for the Giants the year prior to that. Anarumo has also sat down with Giants leadership once so far.
And finally, the team is set to conduct an interview with former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores on Thursday. Flores was unexpectedly fired earlier this month despite leading the Dolphins to their second consecutive winning season after inheriting one of the worst rosters in the NFL just three years before.
Flores is a branch from the Bill Belichick coaching tree, having spent 15 years with the New England Patriots as a scout and then the coach of various position groups including linebackers and safeties.