After Giants Snag John Harbaugh, Who Will He Hire For Coaching Staff?

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by Matthew MendivesJanuary 18, 2026, 2:34 am >

The New York Giants have ended their coaching search and have settled on a former Super Bowl champion.

On January 14, it was reported that John Harbaugh had agreed to be the Giants’ next head coach. This was a few hours after his interview with the team.

Harbaugh was the Ravens’ head coach from 2008 to 2025. He made the playoffs in each of his first five seasons, including the Super Bowl XLVII championship. Since drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018, the Ravens missed the playoffs only twice, including this season.

The Giants’ head coach spot has been a bit of a revolving door since the firing of the legendary Tom Coughlin after the 2015 season. Ben McAdoo was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach in 2016. He made the playoffs in 2016 but was fired during an awful 2017 season.

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After Steve Spagnuolo’s brief stint as the interim head coach, the Giants hired the Vikings’ offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. He was fired after two losing seasons. Next, the Giants hired Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge. He almost led the Giants to the playoffs in 2020 without Saquon Barkley, but after an awful 2021 season, he was fired.

Joe Schoen was tasked with leading the coaching search in his first season as general manager. He hired his fellow Bills colleague Brian Daboll. Daboll led the Giants to the playoffs in 2022 and won Coach of the Year. However, after three straight losing seasons, he was fired during the 2025 season. Mike Kafka was promoted to interim head coach.

Now that the Giants have their head coach, they need to build their staff. The Giants fired their defensive coordinator during the season. Harbaugh could tap into his coaching tree and bring in Rex Ryan as the defensive coordinator. He could also convince Spagnuolo, who is currently with the Chiefs, to return to the Giants. Kafka will return to the role of offensive coordinator but may also attract interest from other teams.