Four Burning Questions Giants HC Brian Daboll Needs to Answer for Ownership

If he's to be retained next year, Giants head coach Brian Daboll will likely have to answer some of these questions for ownership.

Dec 29, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll looks on during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

A decision on New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll’s future with the team is believed to be coming as soon as Monday. It would be surprising if ownership has put off any meetings with its current embattled head coach.  

As part of such meetings, Daboll will no doubt have to answer some questions and perhaps be willing to make a few concessions as to how he currently goes about the business of leading the o-field football product, with these four likely to be 

Here is a look at the key questions the Giants co-ownership tandem of John Mara and Steve Tisch will likely want convincing answers to from Daboll.

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll (left) and former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Why did Daniel Jones regress, and can you assure us that won’t happen with the next quarterback?

One of the reasons Daboll was hired was the work he did with quarterback Josh Allen in Buffalo as the team’s offensive coordinator. 

In Daboll’s first season with the Giants, he took a struggling Daniel Jones and designed his core offensive philosophies around Jones's strengths while minimizing the weaknesses. Along the way, Daboll got Jones to look like a decent enough quarterback with whom the team could win games.

Yet when the 2022 season ended, the clock struck midnight the following year, and the golden coach turned into a pumpkin. Yes, there were injuries to speak of, but more alarmingly, Jones badly regressed, the confidence he showed in 2022 vanishing.  

What isn’t talked about much but needs to be considered is that, at times, it looked like Daboll was growing frustrated at Jones, which certainly couldn’t have helped the quarterback’s confidence. 

For instance, during a blowout loss to Seattle in October 2023, Daboll was caught by the TV cameras with a tablet in his hand going over the play with Jones, who was sitting on the bench. 

The head coach then , walked away, and shook his head, a clear sign of frustration. Perhaps exercising patience and calmness and being a teacher might have been the way to go. 

Daboll later downplayed the scene, but listening to him speak about Jones whenever he was asked always gave the impression that the head coach was never truly enamored with him after that 2022 season.

Granted, Daboll inherited Jones, but some of his responses about the former quarterback and his interactions with him were not good looks. They cannot be repeated if the team can’t get him the quarterback he wants this offseason.

Dec 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll coaches against the New Orleans Saints during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

What happened to the offense, and how will you fix it?

As predicted last offseason, Daboll took back the play calling after letting offensive coordinator Mike Kafka (whose play calling, by the way, directly helped Jones have his best season in 2022 since his rookie campaign) do so the first two years.

At the time, the decision made sense. Kafka was a hot coaching commodity, and the Giants were, as we later found out, thanks to Hard Knocks, looking to acquire a new franchise quarterback. 

While Daboll never explicitly stated this, his taking back the playcalling was supposed to create more continuity. The thinking was probably that as the primary architect of the offense, he and he alone could get the most out of the players.

Instead, any magic Daboll thought he might be able to generate turned out to be a dud. The Giants offense currently ranks 29th in the league (298.3 yards per game), the same as how it finished in 2023, except one can argue that this year’s version was aided by last week’s production against the Colts.

For most of the season, the Giants scoring output was also worse than last year’s 15.6 points per game average, again this year’s current average of 16.3 aided by the 45 points scored last week against the Colts.

Daboll could point to the injuries this year, but the Giants also had them last year. He could point to the quarterback play being a mess, but that’s a knock against his supposed strength. Last year, they also had a mess at the position yet still won twice as many games.

Dec 29, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll reacts during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

How do you intend to ensure the team is ready to start the season moving forward? 

One of the biggest changes Daboll must make–and if he doesn’t agree to it, ownership needs to insist it is made–is how he distributed preseason game snaps. 

Twice now, the Giants have looked flat and unprepared in regular-season openers, having outscored 68-6, the worst mark of any team in the NFL in regular-season openers over the last two seasons.

Daboll’s approach has been to “rest” starters in games in the days before, and the week before the game, they held joint practices in a controlled environment. 

Simply put, that has to stop. This isn’t a consistent playoff team with the bulk of the core in place from year to year. With the Giants continuing to add pieces, it’s important to keep getting them as much work as possible in uncontrolled environments. 

And if injuries are the concern, look at how many guys landed on the injury report this year during the week. In other words, injuries, if they’re meant to happen, will happen and should not be used as an excuse not to play guys who otherwise need the work. 

New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka talks to reporters. / Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

What coaching changes will be made?

Although Daboll will probably tell reporters at his year-end presser that he expects to have everyone back, it would be a stunning development if everyone is retained or wants to remain. 

We can start with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who, although he has another year on his contract, probably won’t be held back if he wants to take off for either a head coaching job (which would benefit the Giants) or a promotion that includes play calling with another team.

And what about defensive coordinator Shane Bowen? Bowen’s system and the team’s personnel aren’t exactly a match made in heaven, but to his credit, Bowen has gotten the unit to play a little bit better, particularly against the run, despite losing Dexter Lawrence, Bobby Okereke, and Tyler Nubin to season-ending injuries. 

But too many chunk plays have been given up. The unit has allowed 24.7 points per game (10th worst in the league), and it ranks at or near the bottom of the league in just about every major macro category except passing yards per game (208). 

Those metrics need to be fixed, and whether that’s because Bowen’s scheme doesn’t fit the talent or because there are breakdowns with the assistant coaches, something has to change there.

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