The New York Giants are interviewing one of the best available head-coaching candidates Wednesday.
New York will speak with two-time NFL Coach of the Year candidate Kevin Stefanski with an in-person interview Wednesday, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
Stefanski was fired by the Cleveland Browns after they finished 5-12 in 2025. He went 45-56 over six seasons with the Browns but guided them to the playoffs twice in his tenure.
The Giants, of course, fired Brian Daboll on Nov. 10 and are looking for his successor. They interviewed former Super Bowl champion Mike McCarthy on Tuesday and are likely to interview John Harbaugh after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday.
Kevin Stefanski Is High On The List Of Giants Head Coaching Candidates
According to Duggan, the Giants had targeted Stefanski as their lead candidate until Harbaugh hit the open market.
“He was the favorite in the search for a few hours Tuesday before Harbaugh became available,” Duggan reported Wednesday. “Stefanski checks a lot of boxes for the Giants, as a two-time Coach of the Year who led the lowly Browns to the playoffs twice in his first four seasons in Cleveland.”
There are some red flags about Stefanski’s candidacy, notably Cleveland’s putrid offense over the past two seasons. But the perception league-wide is Stefanski was stuck trying to fit quarterback Deshaun Watson into his offense after owner Jimmy Haslam acquired him from the Houston Texans then gave the notorious quarterback a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.
Watson has been injured for more than two years at this point and has been awful when he did play. But Stefanski led the Browns to the playoffs just two years ago, keyed by Joe Flacco’s return from retirement to earn Comeback Player of the Year honors that season.
“Stefanski’s track record as an offensive head coach is spotty,” Duggan reported, “but he was undone by the quarterback mess in Cleveland caused by the Watson trade.”
Plus, Duggan noted Stefanski’s ability to assemble elite staffs around him, especially on defense where the Browns ranked fourth in yards-against per game (283.6) and likely will have the NFL Defensive Player of the Year (Myles Garrett) and Defensive Rookie of the Year (Carson Schwesinger).
“Stefanski has assembled staffs with top-notch assistants, including defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and offensive line coach Bill Callahan,” Duggan reported. “It would make him particularly appealing as a candidate if he’s able to bring those assistants to his next stop.”
Hiring Kevin Stefanski Over John Harbaugh Would Be The Right Decision For The Giants
Stefanski and Harbaugh are inherently linked, since they are the top-two most attractive candidates. The case could be made that, despite their stained culture, the Giants’ job is the most appealing available, since the once-proud organization already has a franchise quarterback in place in Jaxson Dart.
Hiring Harbaugh may seem like a slam dunk, but don’t discount what Stefanski did in Cleveland, especially under Haslam’s meddlesome watch.
Stefanski is the only coach credited with a playoff win for the Browns in the past 30 years, even though he was not on the sidelines for their 48-37 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 10, 2021 due to COVID-19. But he is the only coach since Marty Schottenheimer to lead Cleveland to the playoffs twice.
Stefanski, 43, is 20 years younger than Harbaugh, which makes him a potentially long-term candidate to see through a rebuild. He doesn’t have the Super Bowl win that Harbaugh does, but Harbaugh’s title was now 13 years ago, and he has squandered opportunity after opportunity to get back to the championship game despite having one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in Lamar Jackson.
Maybe the Giants couldn’t go wrong with either Harbaugh or Stefanski. But the last coach the Browns fired after winning a playoff game was Bill Belichick, and the Giants would hate to miss out on a candidate like that again.
Giants To Interview Former Coach Of The Year Winner For Head Coaching Vacancy