With each passing week, and each subsequent passing loss, the likelihood of the New York Giants cleaning house increases. Head coach Brian Daboll is on the hot seat and presumably coaching for his job. If wins will buy him another year, it doesn’t seem like he has much currency to purchase that 2025 season with a 2-13 record and two games left to play.
If the Giants do make a change at head coach, they will have an intriguing list of candidates to consider as Daboll’s replacement. They might not have to look far to find their next head coach either. Elsewhere in the NFC East is a top offensive mind who could be ready for a second chance to thrive as a head coach.
Could the Giants target Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury as their next head coach?
A popular name to be considered for vacant head coach positions this offseason will be Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. The former Arizona Cardinals head coach (2019-2022) has gotten a second wind in his NFL coaching career this season while revitalizing the Commanders’ offense.
Washington has become a true contender in the NFC overnight with a 10-5 record, a vast improvement over their 4-13 finish from a season ago. Sparking this immediate turnaround is the success of Kingsbury’s offense led by rookie star quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders’ offense ranks fifth in the NFL this season, averaging 373.5 total yards and 28.8 points per game. Their elite rushing attack ranks third in the league with 152.7 rushing yards per game. Kingsbury’s unit has been a deadly force this season and that success could earn him a new head coaching job this offseason.
Kingsbury is considered a “quarterback guru”
The emergence of rookie QB Jayden Daniels has sparked the Commanders’ turnaround. Daniels has thrown for 3,303 yards this season on a 69.7% completion rate with a 22-8 TD-INT ratio. He’s also added an additional 737 yards and six touchdowns rushing. Daniels is a top candidate for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Kingsbury has done an excellent job developing the rookie first-round pick and allowing him to find such quick and immediate success.
Throughout his coaching career, Kingsbury has been credited with the development of numerous star quarterbacks. He was the head coach of Texas Tech University during Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s tenure at the organization. Texas Tech has him listed as “KINGSBURY, THE QUARTERBACK GURU” on their official website:
“Since joining the coaching profession, Kingsbury has been among the elite quarterback developers in the country with five former pupils moving on to the NFL in Mahomes (Chiefs), Keenum (Broncos), Davis Webb (Giants), Johnny Manziel and 2017 signal caller Nic Shimonek (Chargers),” Texas Tech’s website reads.
Kingsbury went on to draft and coach Kyler Murray for the Arizona Cardinals. His conviction in Murray prompted Arizona to move on from their 2018 first-round pick QB Josh Rosen just one year later to draft Murray first-overall in 2019. Murray has gone on to establish himself as a franchise quarterback for the Cardinals.
Could the Giants give Kingsbury his next quarterback prodigee?
Daniels is only the latest talent added to Kingsbury’s impressive list of understudies. With the Giants positioned to pick at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft, they could aim to hire Kingsbury as their head coach and hand him his next quarterback prodigee.
There is no guarantee Kingsbury would want to leave Washington for a head coaching job. After all, he is one of the top offensive coordinators in the league, coaching one of the top young quarterbacks in the league, as a member of one of the best teams in the league. He has a pretty sweet gig with the Commanders and the Giants’ job might not be seen as much of an attractive option considering how much overturn they have had in the front office and coaching staffs over the last several years.
The consensus top-two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft class are Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. Perhaps if the Giants lock in the No. 1 overall pick in the draft they could persuade Kingsbury to return to the big chair as their next head coach with the promise that he will be able to take the quarterback of his liking at the top of the draft.
The Giants, however, are in need of a cultural reboot. Though, there is no guarantee they will get one. Co-owner and team president John Mara has not made his mind up about whether or not he will retain general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for the 2025 season. If he chooses to clean house, however, plucking the Commanders’ elite offensive playcaller would be an exciting move to upgrade the Giants’ offense while simultaneously diminishing that of a division rival.
