The New York Giants‘ hire of Matt Nagy as offensive coordinator did not inspire much confidence in fans. But former Giants players are excited to see what the veteran coordinator can do with Jaxson Dart.
Former Giants Super Bowl-winning kicker Lawrence Tynes opened up about his relationship with Nagy and expressed confidence in John Harbaugh’s hire.
Nagy won the Super Bowl twice with the Kansas City Chiefs, including in 2023 as their offensive coordinator. He helped KC get back to Super Bowl LIX in 2024, its third straight championship game, but it fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 in New Orleans.
Lawrence Tynes ‘Loves’ Matt Nagy
Tynes twice kicked the Giants to the Super Bowl with game-winning field goals in overtime in the NFC Championship in 2007 and 2011.
Yet, even though he was a special-teams player, he supports the hiring of Nagy.
“Love Matt Nagy, know him personally,” Tynes posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. “He will do great things for the Giants and Jaxson Dart[‘]s continued development.”
Though many remember Nagy’s failed tenure in 2025 — and him getting fired as the Chicago Bears coach — he was the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator that helped turn Alex Smith into a serviceable QB in KC before Patrick Mahomes.
Plus, Nagy went 12-4 and won the NFC North in his first year with the Bears — with career backup Mitchell Trubisky as his starting QB. Nagy was 34-31 as Bears head coach, and went 0-2 in the playoffs, but still has the ninth-best win% in the 19-coach history of the Bears.
So it’s safe to think Nagy, who was born in Dunellen, New Jersey and lived in Piscataway as a kid, earned the role by recommendation of Harbaugh’s former boss and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who Harbaugh worked for with the Eagles.
The Giants’ Coaching Staff Looks Like It Did In The Late 2000s
If Tynes likes what he sees from the Giants’ coaching staff, it may be due to the fact it looks extremely similar to the group he played for in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Though Harbaugh is presumably less ornery than Tom Coughlin, and five years older, he hired a veteran offensive coordinator who failed at his one-and-only head-coaching gig in Nagy. Plus, he hired a young and up-and-coming defensive coordinator in Dennard Wilson.
Those hires seem akin to those of Kevin Gilbride and Steve Spagnuolo. Fans may not have loved Gilbride’s conservative playcalling — though the shotgun draw was always a solid two-point play — but he found a way to get the Giants to the playoffs three times and dial up Super Bowl-winning drives twice.
So Nagy may not seem like the most inspired hire, and he’s almost guaranteed to bear the brunt of Giants fans who have pent up angst after watching their team win one playoff game since Super Bowl XLVI.
But if he, Dart and the Giants can do what Tynes suggests, and bring the Giants back to prominence, they’ll love him, even if he ultimately leaves New York for another head-coaching role in a few years.
Super Bowl Winner Praises Giants’ Decision to Hire Matt Nagy as OC