Maybe you liked my first list of potential replacements for now-fired New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Maybe you didn’t. Maybe you think even discussing Bill Belichick as a candidate is silly.
Well, here is a list os six more potential names to consider.
This time, knowing that GM Joe Schoen will lead the search, I included a couple of guys with direct ties to Schoen.
Kevin Stefanski
In my initial list, I had mentioned the possibility of turning to John Harbaugh if he and the Baltimore Ravens decided to part ways. What about Stefanski, a two-time Coach of the Year, if he and the Cleveland Browns part ways after this season?
My take on the still-young Stefanski, who is just 43, is that he is a terrific coach stuck in a horrible organization in Cleveland. He can coach quarterbacks and I would like to see what he can do in a more stable environment.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky would be a fan of that move:
Lou Anarumo
Anarumo was defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins from 2012-2017. Schoen was in Miami’s front office for all but the last of those six seasons.
Anarumo, 59, is a Staten Island native who was the Giants’ defensive backs coach in 2018. He was defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019-2024 and is currently coordinating the Indianapolis Colts’ defense.
Anarumo interviewed in 2022 for the Giants’ job that went to Daboll.
Klint Kubiak
The current Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, 38, is one of those hot coordinator candidates considered to be on the fast track toward becoming a head coach. He has also been offensive coordinator for the Vikings (2021) and Saints (2024).
Kubiak’s father is former NFL head coach Gary Kubiak.
Doug Pederson
Mike McCarthy was on my first list. That means Pederson’s name should probably be included as a potential candidate. Pederson won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, but lost his job after a 4-11-1 2020 season. He was head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2022-2024, where it was hoped he could work magic with former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. That, of course, didn’t happen.
In an eight-year career, the Super Bowl season was the only time a Pederson-coached team won at least 10 games. He has a 64-66-1 career record.
Davis Webb
This one is a bit out of left field and might be looked at as a Joe Judge-style risk. Webb, after all, has only coached for three seasons and has yet to reach the coordinator level. He is currently passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos.
There is, though, a connection between Schoen and Webb from the former quarterback’s playing days with the Buffalo Bills and Giants. There is an obvious appeal because of what Webb, considered a rising star in the coaching profession, might be able to accomplish with Jaxson Dart.
There are those who give Webb, a backup quarterback in the NFL who had long planned to become a coach, more credit than anyone on the Giants’ coaching staff for Daniel Jones’ excellent 2022 season. Webb had been lauded in Denver for his work with second-year quarterback Bo Nix, his play-calling has been praised when he has had the opportunity, and there has already been speculation that he might be in play for the Tennessee Titans’ head-coaching vacancy.
Don’t be shocked if he ends up on the list of coaches Schoen considers.
Robert Saleh
You might turn your nose up and think “God, no” at the mention of the former New York Jets coach. He was 20-36 in three-plus seasons with Gang Green and never had a winning season. Was that on Saleh, or was that simply because of the Jets being a dysfunctional mess?
Saleh was a fantastic defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers before becoming Jets head coach, and is rehabbing his reputation this year after returning to his old job in San Francisco. Is he, like Daboll, a guy who’s ceiling is as a really good coordinator?
At the very least, the Rooney Rule is probably going to get Saleh some interviews.
