25% of NFL teams are without a head coach, including the New York Giants.
The Giants will compete against the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Miami Dolphins to sign their ideal coach.
We'll focus on the potential candidates for the Giants and the odds associated with each coach.
NY Giants Next Permanent Head Coach Odds - Jan. 8
Kevin Stefanski | +125 |
John Harbaugh | +175 |
Mike McCarthy | +700 |
Mike McDaniel | +1000 |
Jeff Hafley | +1100 |
Antonio Pierce | +1200 |
Kliff Kingsbury | +1400 |
Chris Shula | +1600 |
Jesse Minter | +1600 |
Vance Joseph | +1600 |
The Giants had some hope heading into the 2025 season with an extremely talented defensive line, a first-round quarterback, and a bunch of weapons offensively whose styles of play complement each other well.
However, a slew of injuries to Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo, and more derailed the season. Not to mention the theoretically great defense finishing in the bottom-five of all major defensive statistics.
New York finished 4-13 overall. After starting the season 2-8, they fired former head coach Brian Daboll and subsequently let go of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen two games after.
The Giants were more competitive than their record says, however. They hung with plenty of the NFL's top teams and had double-digit leads in nine games. Unfortunately, poor execution at the end of the games led them to going 4-5 in those games.
Their most notable blown lead was to the AFC's No. 1 seeded Denver Broncos in Denver. They held a 26-8 lead with 10 minutes left in the game and managed to fall 33-32. Other blown leads include a loss to the Detroit Lions in which New York led by 10 in the fourth quarter, and double-digit blown leads to the Saints, Bears, and Cowboys.
That said, the Giants certainly have the talent to make serious noise in the near future. Hanging with Denver, Detroit, and Chicago is impressive, and the defense got much better after Bowen was fired.
The prospective new head coach will have lots to work with: Jaxson Dart has proven he can play in this league, Nabers and Skattebo are a couple of the best at their respective positions, Andrew Thomas is a franchise left tackle, and Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson provide tremendous speed and YAC ability.
Defensively, the well-documented defensive line featuring Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence have the potential to be one of the more dominant lines we've seen. The secondary needs some work, but they have the fifth overall pick, a second round pick, a fourth round pick, and picks at the end of the draft to work with.
The cap situation isn't ideal - they rank 20th in available cap space according to Spotrac, but their QB and star wide receiver are still on their rookie deals, which gives more flexibility.
New York is the most attractive destination for the coaches looking for a head coaching gig, and the Giants will have some good candidates to sort through.
Kevin Stefanski (+125) and John Harbaugh (+175) are the two most likely candidates to become their next head coach according to oddsmakers. These veteran coaches will bring some stability to a team that was volatile last year.
The offensive-minded Stefanksi would make sense to try and help out Dart navigate the NFL. It's unclear how much of a role he had with quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland, but Stefanski has a history of pretty good offensive play with the Vikings before heading to Cleveland.
Harbaugh is one of the greatest head coaches in football history, however he might share the same trait that led to the downfall of the 2025 Giants - blown leads. The Ravens had been known for blowing plenty of leads in the Harbaugh era and a fresh scene will be good for him.
Mike McCarthy (+700) and the recently-fired Mike McDaniel (+1000) are interesting candidates as well. McCarthy's teams are always stable and have a high floor which would be perfect for this young Giants team. McDaniel has one of the smartest offensive brains in the NFL and would work well with Dart and the dynamic weapons at his disposal.
The defensive-minded Jeff Hafley (+1100), Jesse Minter (+1600), and Vance Joseph (+1600) are all top-ten on the list. Of course, the offensive coordinator hire would become just as important as the head coach hire if they do choose to go with a defensive head coach.
Read the analysis for the Raiders next head coach odds on site.
