Big Blue View
John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski are the clear front-runners in a New York Giants’ head coaching search that is skewing heavily toward experienced candidates. The Giants, though, have serious competition from a number of teams for both decorated coaches.
Harbaugh, seeking to decompress and probably study his options, reportedly will not take any interviews until next week. Stefanski interviewed with the Giants Tuesday night and Wednesday.
What if both candidates spurn the Giants for what they perceive to be better opportunities? Or, if the Giants somehow decide that neither Harbaugh nor Stefanski is right for them?
Where do the Giants turn then?
The remaining list of experienced candidates thus far connected to the Giants includes Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, former Buccaneers and Falcons coach Raheem Morris, and former Raiders coach and Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce.
Among the various retread candidates the Giants could turn to if they somehow fail to land either Harbaugh or Stefanski, Joseph does not have the best record as a head coach. An argument can be made, though, that the 53-year-old Joseph might be the best fit for the Giants.
Joseph is expected to interview virtually with the Giants on Thursday. That is one of five virtual interviews he will conduct this week.
Zac Stevens, Broncos beat writer for TheDNVR.com, is not surprised by the interest in Joseph. He said players in Denver constantly talk about “how good of a leader” Joseph is.
“They don’t really talk about just how good of a defensive mind is. It’s more of a leader. And that’s why, with the seven openings that are that are out there for head coach right now, five of those teams have already requested to interview or interviewed Vance right now is because he is one of the hottest candidates out there,” Stevens said. “Not because of what he does for the defense necessarily, but because of the leader he is.”
Stevens said “there’s no doubt” that Joseph can extend the respect he has from Denver defensive players across an entire locker room and organization.
“The respect that those defensive guys have for him uh is absolutely tremendous,” Stevens said. “And I’ve been around guys where they’re very honest about a coordinator not being as good of a leader and they are all on the exact same page and I believe that can lead to an offense.”
Stevens and I discussed the lack of accountability around the Giants the past couple of seasons, and players’ desire for a “Tom Coughlin-esque” leader.
It was interesting, then, to hear Stevens talk about why then-Denver general manager John Elway hired Joseph to coach the team in 2017.
“What he was looking for was a leader of men,” Stevens said. “That’s the phrase that he used during the coaching search. And then once they hired Vance Joseph was that term, leader of men, leader...
