When the New York Giants first hired John Harbaugh back in January, there was a lot of excitement about the wide tree of assistant coaches he would bring with him to New York.
Dennard Wilson, who was once a rising star defensive backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens before taking the defensive coordinator job with the Tennessee Titans, is now with the Giants.
Before landing the head coaching gig with the Cleveland Browns, there was optimism that Todd Monken would follow Harbaugh from Baltimore to New York; of course that didn’t end up being the case.
The Giants eventually landed on former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who most recently served as Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s reasonable for fans to be skeptical about Nagy’s ability as the offensive coordinator. His recent offenses haven’t exactly been great.
But it seems Harbaugh has a backup plan if Nagy falters, and he tested it during the team’s preseason finale.
John Harbaugh Had Brian Callahan Calling Plays for Giants
After the New York Giants preseason finale win over their crosstown rival New York Jets, Harbaugh revealed he gave offensive playcalling duties to quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan, giving Nagy the night off from his expected duties.
“Giants shook things up last night to prepare in case of emergency, as John Harbaugh put it, if Matt Nagy got caught in Jersey traffic and could not make it to the game on time,” wrote Giants insider Art Stapleton in a post on X.
“Passing game coordinator/QB coach Brian Callahan called plays for the offense in preseason finale.”
Callahan’s playcalling led to the Giants best offensive outing of the preseason, recording 401 yards of total offense, including 227 yards passing and 174 rushing.
While Harbaugh didn’t come out and say it, it’s obvious there’s a contingency plan in place if New York’s offense struggles to start the 2026 season.
Callahan is an experienced playcaller, having last served as the Tennessee Titans head coach. It wasn’t necessarily great, considering he was fired just one month into his second year on the job, but he still may be better than what Nagy has to offer.
Matt Nagy Running Same Old Chiefs Offense
Not inspiring further confidence in Nagy, New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart revealed on the Monday Morning Quarterback podcast that a lot of what the offensive coordinator has brought with him to New York is the same as what he was running in Kansas City.
“The install is all their stuff, in Kansas City. So, that’s really all that we’re watching when it comes to an installation process,” Dart told Conor Orr and Albert Breer.
While that may sound attractive in years past, Nagy’s offense in 2025 left a lot to be desired. The Chiefs were a middle-of-the-pack offensive team last season, averaging 320.6 yards of offense per game, ranked 20th per game in the NFL.
From Dart’s comments, it sounds like they’ll be doing similar concepts, and that doesn’t seem like a recipe for success.
Luckily, Harbaugh seems prepared for that disaster scenario and is preparing Callahan for potential play-calling duties.
John Harbaugh Has Giants’ Contingency Plan in Case Matt Nagy Fails