Kevin Stefanski interviews on Wednesday for the New York Giants head coaching job, kicking off a search that was reshaped on Tuesday evening by the Baltimore Ravens’ stunning firing of John Harbaugh.
General manager Joe Schoen said on Monday that the Giants “would cast a wide net” in their search for a coach to replace Brian Daboll, fired in the middle of the 2025 season. He did, though, indicate there were benefits to hiring an experienced head coach.
“The deep dive on the research, people that have
worked with these individuals, I think is very important. Looking, talking to players, player quotes on different coaches. If you’re fortunate enough to get some players that maybe played under those guys, that’s important,” Schoen said. “And then, yeah, the head coach has a track record. You want to know how they manage games. You can go bring up game management situations, which we’ve done that on some of these candidates. Game management is an important part of it. You can go see how they were in front of the media after wins, after losses. What their record was, it’s right there, where they ranked offensively, defensively. So that’s a little bit easier because the information there is for you versus a projection with a offensive, defensive coordinator, whoever it may be that hasn’t been a head coach in the NFL before.”
Experienced coaches who have either scheduled interviews with the Giants or are expected to include Stefanski, Harbaugh, Vance Joseph, Mike McCarthy, and perhaps Kliff Kingsbury. Stefanski reportedly had dinner with Giants’ representatives on Tuesday night.
Stefanski was a two-time Coach of the Year during a six-year run as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He had two 11-win seasons with the Browns, but finished 45-56 (.446 winning percentage).
Stefanski is a former offensive coordinator and offensive-minded head coach considered a good fit for quarterback Jaxson Dart, as well as a coach who could bring accountability to the locker room.
The John Harbaugh factor
Harbaugh suddenly hitting the market has turned the 2026 NFL coaching carousel upside down. Not including the Ravens, there are six teams with head coaching vacancies. The belief is that some teams would fire their current coach if they could hire Harbaugh. The Giants are said to be acting “urgently” in their pursuit of Harbaugh.
Harbaugh went 180-113 (.614 winning percentage) in 18 seasons with the Ravens. He coached Baltimore to a Super Bowl victory in 2012, and his teams reached the playoffs 12 teams. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated took a look at what made Harbaugh successful in Baltimore for so long.
Here is a little more background on the Harbaugh situation:
Giants players said this week they want “somebody Tom Coughlin-esque” as the next head coach. Harbaugh would be that.
First-time head coaches
The search for a coach does seem to be skewing heavily in the direction of experienced coaches. The Giants, though, are expected to interview a handful of candidates to become first-time head coaches. They have requested interviews with Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and will also interview interim head coach Mike Kafka.
NFL head coach interview process
NFL teams cannot simply get any candidate they want into their building for an interview and then hire that person on the spot. The Rooney Rule requires in-person interviews with at least two external minority candidates before hiring a coach. There is also a schedule of when coaches can be interviewed. Here is the breakdown, via The Athletic:
- Teams with open head-coaching positions were able to begin requesting interviews with candidates from other teams on Jan. 6. Those interviews must happen virtually before the end of divisional-round games.
- Last year, the NFL recommended that teams with open head-coaching positions used this “virtual interview window” to set up initial interviews so those teams would be eligible to request a second interview with a candidate from a Super Bowl team during the bye week.
- Note: Teams may not interview employees of other teams that didn’t make the postseason until the third day after the employer teams’ Week 18 game (for example, Jan. 7 for a game on Jan. 4, or Jan. 8 for a game on Jan. 5).
These are the interview requirements for coaches of teams in the postseason:
- If the employer team has a bye in the wild-card round, virtual interviews may begin three days after Week 18 games and must happen before the end of wild-card games.
- If the employer team is participating in the wild-card round, virtual interviews may begin three days after the team’s wild-card game and must happen before the end of the divisional-round games.
Starting the day after the divisional round ends:
- Teams can conduct in-person or virtual interviews with candidates employed by other NFL teams whose seasons ended.
- Teams cannot hold initial interviews with candidates employed by teams participating in the AFC and NFC championship games until the end of the employer team’s season. A candidate’s employer team may not voluntarily grant permission for those interviews.
During the bye week between conference championships and the Super Bowl:
- Second interviews, either in-person or virtual, are allowed with head coach candidates employed by teams in the Super Bowl. The team(s) conducting the interviews must notify the employer team(s).
Contact with head coach candidates in the Super Bowl is not allowed from during the Super Bowl week until the day after the game.
Here is a graphic illustration of the early interview process:
