NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Giants fired coach Brian Daboll on Monday, moving on from him midway through his fourth season after they dropped to 2-8 with a loss at Chicago.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was named as the interim replacement. The move made by ownership came a day after the Giants blew another late lead and lost 24-20 to the Bears. General manager Joe Schoen remains in his role, and owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said he will lead the search for the next coach.
“We spoke this morning about the direction of our franchise on the field, and we have decided that, at this time, it is in our best interest to make a change at the head coaching position,” Mara and Tisch said in a statement. “The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for the franchise. We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
The rest of Daboll’s staff was kept in place, including defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
New York has lost four in a row since upsetting defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia at home in prime time early last month. That included becoming the first team since 2003 to lead by 18 points with six minutes to play and lose, which the Giants did at Denver on Oct. 19.
This is just the Giants’ third midseason coaching change over the past 95 years. It’s the first since 2017, when Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese were fired following a 2-10 start.
Daboll went 20-40-1 in his first head-coaching job in the league. He led the Giants to the playoffs in his first season and was named coach of the year, but has gone 11-33 since.
His .336 winning percentage ranks 154th out of 166 coaches with 50-plus games since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Daboll is the second coach to be fired this season; Tennessee dismissed Brian Callahan after the Titans started 1-5.
“These are difficult decisions, and John and I do not take them lightly,” Tisch said. “But we feel like this is the right thing to do at this time and will allow us to move forward.”
Daboll, who previously served as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator from 2018-21, had faced increasing pressure about his job security in recent weeks and repeatedly took responsibility for the Giants’ woes.
“Look, you put everything you’ve got into it,” Daboll said. “You look at the things that aren’t where they need to be and you try to fix them. Whether that’s changing things on the schedule, whether that’s different periods of practice, whether that’s changing little parts of the scheme, again, that’s where we’re at. We’re at where we’re at.”
Kafka takes over after another turn of uncertainty in a lost season, following quarterback Jaxson Dart’s concussion against the Bears that forced Russell Wilson back into action. Fellow rookie Cam Skattebo and No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers were already lost for the season because of injuries.
The 38-year-old former assistant joined the Giants after working under Andy Reid in multiple capacities since 2017. He has four games and 16 passes of playing experience from his time with Philadelphia in 2011 after being the starting QB at Northwestern.
Schoen, who is in his fourth season as GM since also being hired from the Bills, got a vote of confidence from Mara and Tisch. Selecting edge rusher Abdul Carter with the third pick, trading back into the first round to get Dart and drafting Skattebo likely played a significant role in Schoen sticking around longer than Daboll.
“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” Mara said. “Unfortunately, the results over the past three years have not been what any of us want. We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans expect.”
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