The New York Giants got a head start on their coaching search this season after they fired Brian Daboll back in early November after a dreadful start. Of course, they couldn’t actually interview candidates, but their list was already being made while other teams were competing for playoff spots.
In a report for The Athletic, NFL insider Dianna Russini confirmed that the Giants will begin their interviewing process to find their next head coach this week. Teams can begin interviewing coaching candidates on Tuesday, Jan. 6 and Wednesday, Jan. 7 for candidates whose teams didn’t make the playoffs or have a first round bye.
Here’s the list of candidates expected to interview with New York this week: Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
There are other names in the mix, but they’re all on current playoff teams, so their processes won’t begin until their team is eliminated.
Kingsbury an Enticing Candidate For the Giants
Kliff Kingsbury is the most enticing name for New York, solely because of his current job, which is offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders. Kingsbury has been with the Giants division rival the last two seasons; the first two seasons of Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’ career.
Because of this connection, Kingsbury would have an inside track on scheming against Daniels and the Commanders for the foreseeable future. He played a big role in Daniels’ outstanding rookie season, and taught him much of what he knows as far as NFL playbooks go. This would automatically give the Giants the coaching upper hand in two games every season.
Kingsbury is also an attractive candidate because he’s worked with a number of mobile, dual-threat quarterbacks in his coaching career; this would make him a good choice to work with Jaxson Dart. Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech from 2013-2018, where he coached a pretty well-known guy named Patrick Mahomes.
He then coached Kyler Murray in Arizona for four years, granted without a ton of success, then worked with Daniels the last two years.
His quick fall from grace in Arizona could be a deterrent for the Giants or any other team looking at Kingsbury. He was on a promising trajectory in his first three years with the Cardinals, going from 5-10-1, to 8-8, to 11-6 with a playoff berth. But his final season with Arizona ended with a 4-13 record, maybe a sign he didn’t have what it took to be a long term solution for the team.
Other Candidates for New York
Matt Nagy and Lou Anarumo are the two other candidates who will be interviewing with the Giants this week.
Nagy has been the Kansas City Chiefs OC for three seasons, which followed his four year tenure as the Chicago Bears head coach. He had a similar trajectory with Chicago as Kingsbury did with Arizona: solid to start before falling off a cliff in the final year.
The Giants biggest weakness this year was their defense, which consistently fell short in games they had a chance to win early in the season. If defense is their main focus heading into 2026, Anarumo should be at the top of the list for New York. He’s spent the last seven years as an NFL defensive coordinator with the Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals, and has been a defensive coach for the entirety of his 33 year football career dating back to his days with college programs.
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