The New York Giants‘ head coaching search is expected to be wide-ranging, with assistants, coordinators, and college coaches all getting a look.
According to ESPN’s Giants insider Jordan Raanan, the job is expected to be extensively sought after by candidates thanks to some of the young, high-upside players already in place.
“It’s not like they won’t have options. One source with intimate knowledge of the opening described the Giants job as ‘highly coveted’ due to it’s young core and — they are the New York Giants, still a marquee franchise,” wrote Ranaan.
“It was a sentiment also shared by several other agents with candidates who are interested in the position.”
But one coach in particular has been attracting a lot of buzz as of late, thanks in part to his NCAA football team’s snubbing from the College Football Playoff.
Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman’s Giants Buzz
Marcus Freeman, head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, has been generating interest in NFL circles as a potential head coaching candidate thanks to his team being left out of the 12-team playoff bracket.
NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton was first to report on the New York Giants’ interest in Freeman as Big Blue’s next on-field leader.
The Giants’ interest in Freeman likely stems from his pedigree as a player’s coach and his ability to build connections with his team.
Brian Daboll, for all of his offensive ingenuity, wasn’t exactly the “CEO-type” head coach that SNY’s Connor Hughes reported New York is now looking for.
“The Giants now want a CEO-type coach — someone with command of all three phases of the game. They want a leader who can capture the locker room and master the details to tilt close games in their favor,” wrote Hughes.
It remains to be seen if Freeman even has any interest in making the jump to the NFL level, but if Stapleton has heard there will be an interview, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Marcus Freeman’s Football Credentials
Since taking over as Notre Dame’s head coach in 2021, Freeman has accumulated a 43-12 record, including a College Football Playoff National Championship appearance in 2024.
The Dayton, Ohio, native played college football at Ohio State before spending one year in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, and Houston Texans.
He then began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, and worked his way up as a linebackers coach from Kent State, to Purdue, and finally to Cincinnati, where he was the defensive coordinator for the Bearcats.
Freeman’s big break came in 2021, when Brian Kelly hired him as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.
When Kelly left to coach LSU, Freeman stayed on and accepted a promotion to head coach.
His tenure as the Fighting Irish’s head coach has been fruitful, despite them missing the College Football Playoff in 2025.
But that snub from the playoffs may be exactly the kick Freeman needs to decide he wants to take his coaching to the next level, and push him to consider the New York Giants head coaching job.
Of course, as Stapleton mentioned, there’s a $50 million buyout the Giants would have to pay to shake Freeman loose from Notre Dame, but if they decide he’s their guy, there should be no price they wouldn’t pay to land him.
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