After dropping their eighth straight game in Week 14, the New York Giants sit at 2-11, the NFL’s worst record. Despite owner and team president John Mara’s desire to avoid more overturns, all the losing this season might be too much for head coach Brian Daboll to survive and keep his job.
Mara issued a vote of confidence for Daboll in October, but that confidence could be dwindling. If Daboll is fired, the Giants will be searching for their fifth new head coach since 2016. But could a former coach be their answer? One legendary head coach who used to be an esteemed member of the Giants’ organization could be a top target.
Could the Giants be interested in reuniting with Bill Belichick as their next head coach?
Belichick and the Giants share mutual love and respect
Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history. He won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and cemented his legacy as the G.O.A.T. However, long before he was in charge of New England, Belichick led the New York Giants’ defense to two Super Bowl victories.
Belichick was the Giants’ defensive coordinator from 1985-1990. During that span, the team won its first two Super Bowls in franchise history. Prior to his time as DC, Belichick was a special teams coordinator, defensive assistant, and linebackers coach under Giants head coach Bill Parcells from 1979-1984.
It’s no secret that the Giants still hold Belichick in the highest regard. And the feeling seems to be mutual. In the NFL Films’ documentary “A Football Life” focused on him, Belichick took a stroll “down memory lane” at MetLife Stadium, as North Jersey’s Art Stapleton described it, expressing his fondness of the Giants’ organization:
“This is a great organization,” Belichick said of the Giants in the documentary (h/t Stapleton). “It’s hard not to get choked up about it… I loved it here.”
According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, it’s a “well-known secret” around the NFL that Mara “loves” Belichick (h/t Adam Wells of Bleacher Report).
Belichick and Mara have great respect for one another. Could that mutual respect and appreciation be enough to convince Belichick to come coach the New York Giants in 2025, though?
Belichick has expressed an interest in getting back into coaching
It was the end of a historic era in 2024 as the New England Patriots and Belichick mutually agreed to part ways after 23 successful years. After departing from the Boston area, Belichick was interviewed by several different NFL franchises interested in acquiring his services. However, he ultimately didn’t land a job, with teams such as the Atlanta Falcons concerned about the level of control the legendary head coach might command within the front office (per ESPN).
This offseason, Belichick is expected to be back in the mix for head coaching jobs. Although, he seems to be expressing an interest in coaching at the collegiate level. Belichick took an interview with the University of North Carolina last week as they search for the right leader to fill their vacant head coaching job. According to Russini of The Athletic, Belichick and North Carolina have had “multiple conversations” and that “the interest is real.”
Belichick wants to be the man in charge of the sidelines again in 2025. The question is, whose sidelines will he lead? At this point, despite the mutual respect between the two parties, it seems unlikely that Belichick would land in New York as the Giants’ next head coach.
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However, there is still an outside chance due to the rest of the league’s general lack of interest in hiring Belichick in 2024. If that’s the case again this offseason, yet the Giants consider him the top priority, it might come down to a decision for Belichick between the storied yet struggling Giants franchise or an opportunity at the collegiate level in North Carolina.
Then again, there is no guarantee that the Giants will maintain that interest that they clearly once had; nor that they will fire Daboll. But as the season draws to a close, the chance of Daboll getting fired increases, and subsequently, so does the chance of Belichick being reached out to for an interview with Mara and the Giants.
