Winners and losers of John Harbaugh linking up with Giants
- John Harbaugh is finalizing a deal to become the new head coach of the New York Giants.
- Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens last week and became a highly sought-after candidate.
- The move is seen as a major win for the Giants organization, particularly owner John Mara.
The race to secure John Harbaugh’s services was over not long after it officially started.
The former Baltimore Ravens coach became this year’s most hotly pursued candidate on the open market shortly after he was fired last Tuesday. By late Wednesday night, Harbaugh and the New York Giants were working to finalize a deal to make him the organization’s new head coach, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been finalized.
In filling the first of nine head-coaching vacancies this offseason, both Harbaugh and the Giants sent ripples throughout the NFL and its coaching search process, with the effects sure to be felt in the weeks and months to come.
Now, a coach with 180 regular-season wins and a Super Bowl title on his resume will be tasked with revitalizing a franchise that has stood as one of the league’s doormats for nearly a decade.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from the move:
Winners
John Mara
Last January, the Giants president and co-owner was railing against his own organization’s leadership after deciding to keep Brian Daboll for another year, saying, ‘I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year.’ He didn’t retain Daboll, but it’s safe to say Mara is much happier 12 months later. New York reeled in the biggest fish out there in this coaching cycle, landing a figure who looks capable of engineering the quick turnaround Mara has been seeking. Doing so likely cost him greatly, as New York had to provide enough reason for Harbaugh to cut his search short and focus instead on closing out a deal with Big Blue. Yet clearly Mara was willing to pay a premium to land someone with a proven track record of shepherding an organization to competing year in and year out.
John Harbaugh
He didn’t get to exit Baltimore on his own terms, but here’s to betting that control shouldn’t be a problem for Harbaugh as he seizes the reins for the Giants. After his dismissal by the Ravens, Harbaugh held an almost unparalleled amount of leverage as he weighed his options. It’s not immediately clear how things will shake out for New York, but it seems safe to say his influence at any level should be sizable after New York brass hotly pursued him to get a deal in place. Harbaugh lands in a spot that has several promising elements, and even guiding the team back to mere competence could earn him a hero’s welcome from a fan base that has seen just one season with seven or more wins in the last nine years.
Jaxson Dart
Any dual-threat quarterback could do a lot worse than linking up with a head coach who oversaw two MVP seasons by Lamar Jackson, especially if Harbaugh brings Todd Monken along as his offensive coordinator. Dart was described by many as a draw for New York in the coaching search process, and Harbaugh’s willingness to pursue the opening rather than see what else is out there would seem to bode well for this pairing. Regardless of how the partnership with Jackson panned out toward the end, Harbaugh proved fairly adaptable in catering to his quarterbacks during his time. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll endorse the headlong dives that Dart can occasionally revert to, especially given how injuries loomed over the coach’s teams at times. But it seems as though the second-year signal-caller likely has a new leader at the top who will embrace his aggressive identity rather than one who will try to change it.
TV networks
The league and its broadcast partners love stuffing Big Blue into prime time, regardless of whether the team can realistically be expected to keep pace with top contenders. Now, the Giants are sure to be an even more popular option for standalone spots as others follow along to see whether a quick turnaround is in the cards. There’s no revenge game against the Ravens on tap for 2026, nor is there another Harbaugh Bowl against the Los Angeles Chargers and brother Jim Harbaugh. But it won’t take an abundance of creativity to sell people on tuning into the early days of this new setup.
Joe Schoen
On one hand, Harbaugh’s arrival would seem to be a net negative for Schoen in terms of wielding power, as the new head coach is sure to have a hefty influence on several different fronts. Still, Harbaugh is one of the few figures who could capitalize on the uneven roster that the Giants general manager has assembled. Ultimately, the hope for Schoen might be that he’s found his Mike Vrabel, whose hiring by the New England Patriots put Eliot Wolf in a smaller but more secure spot. Given Mara’s admitted lack of patience and the all-out nature of the Giants’ pursuit, striking out on Harbaugh would have been an embarrassment.
Losers
Tennessee Titans
They were next up on the Harbaugh tour, per reports. Sure seemed like the Titans were a long shot to secure his services, but with cap space to facilitate a rapid revival and No. 1 pick Cam Ward exhibiting some serious resilience and big-play ability as a rookie, they were frequently mentioned as a team that couldn’t be dismissed off the bat. While general manager Mike Borgonzi has cast a wide net in Tennessee’s search, it’s been readily evident that he’s interested in speaking to almost anyone with previous head-coaching experience. It stands to reason, then, that the most established candidate would have been of great interest to a team desperately seeking to re-establish relevance ahead of its new Nashville stadium opening in 2027.
Atlanta Falcons
If ever there was a team in the market for a quick fix, this is it. The Falcons now stand alone with the NFL’s second-longest active playoff drought at eight seasons, and owner Arthur Blank’s patience has worn thin as he has seen his team remain mired in mediocrity for years. Atlanta has plenty of enticing pieces on the roster, including All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and a defense dotted with young cornerstones. But the organization lacks considerable resources for short-term growth, so landing someone who could develop and bring together the in-house talent is essential. Harbaugh seemed like a strong candidate to handle those tasks, but now they’ll fall on someone else.
Kevin Stefanski
The two-time NFL Coach of the Year seemed like he might be the big prize of this cycle when he hit the open market. Then, a day later, Harbaugh took over that title. With Harbaugh accounted for, Stefanski now probably has considerable leverage as he weighs his options among the other openings. But despite the Giants’ dysfunction at various levels, New York figured to be an enticing landing spot that would have provided a little bit more of a settled outlook on several fronts than Stefanski was accustomed to having in Cleveland.
Lou Anarumo
When the Giants fired Brian Daboll on Nov. 10, the Indianapolis Colts were 8-2, with Anarumo’s star on the rise as his defense continued to confound opponents. After that point, of course, the Colts would lose their next seven games and fail to make the playoffs. Anarumo still seemed toward the tail end of the campaign as though he had a strong case for this opening, which would have offered him the opportunity to work alongside his son, Louis Anarumo, a pro scout for the Giants. But the arrival of Harbaugh and Stefanski probably deflated his candidacy a good deal. He hasn’t been the fixture of the interview circuit that some others have been, with the Titans the only other team he’s been linked to this cycle. At this point, a return to Indianapolis for a critical 2026 season seems most likely for the 59-year-old.
Mike McCarthy
Like Anarumo, he’s on the older side at 62 and has only been receiving consideration from the Titans outside of New York. At one point, he stood out as perhaps the safe and established candidate given his history of getting the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys back on track as playoff outfits. But he, too, receded to the background a bit once the coaching carousel kicked into high gear. Don’t dismiss him for the Tennessee job, but McCarthy’s absence from the NFL head-coaching ranks might extend beyond a year.
