Mike Florio and Chris Simms used a segment of PFT Live to reopen a question the New York Giants never quite closed: How close was Josh McDaniels to becoming their head coach?
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"I think you heard the same thing I heard," Florio said.
"Totally," Simms replied.
"If John Harbaugh hadn't fallen into the Giants' laps, it would have been Josh McDaniels as next head coach of the New York Giants," Florio said.
The clip, which circulated Friday, is framed as shared information rather than an on-the-record account from the building. Neither man named a source, and the Giants have not addressed it. Florio's wording is absolute. The public record is not.
New York did pursue McDaniels once. In January 2018, after firing Ben
McAdoo, the Giants interviewed him in Foxborough while he was the Patriots' offensive coordinator. He was one of six candidates and a finalist alongside Matt Patricia and Pat Shurmur. The job went to Shurmur.
Reporting at the time said the club could picture McDaniels in the role but believed he was leaning toward the Indianapolis Colts, and that trust concerns tied to his Denver Broncos tenure never fully left the room.
Interest was rumored again in the searches that produced Brian Daboll and, later, Harbaugh. No interview was ever scheduled in either cycle. After Daboll's firing in November 2025, McDaniels' work with Drake Maye in New England drew outside speculation that New York might look his way again.
The documented search ran through candidates including interim coach Mike Kafka, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris, Kevin Stefanski and Antonio Pierce before the Ravens moved on from Harbaugh and the market shifted.
Harbaugh finalized a five-year deal in January and has spent the 2026 season running the franchise. Florio's version casts that hire as the reason a McDaniels union never happened.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Was Josh McDaniels the Giants' plan before John Harbaugh became available?
