Anthony Rivardo
The New York Giants are spiraling out of control. They’re 2-9 on the season, on a five-game losing streak, and just suffered an embarrassing loss at home in Week 12. Several key voices in the Giants’ locker room called out the team’s effort following the loss while others seemed to question the coaching staff’s decision-making.
Once players start questioning the leadership, things often go south for an NFL franchise. Giants co-owner and team president John Mara issued a vote of confidence in his current regime last month, telling reporters that he does not anticipate any end-of-season firings in the front office or coaching staff. However, things are getting ugly in New York, and it’s beginning to look like head coach Brian Daboll’s job is on the line.
Brian Daboll seems to be losing the Giants’ locker room
Following the Giants’ blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, SNY reporter Connor Hughes discussed the year-to-year regression of Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen’s team. As he aptly put it, the locker room is beginning to lose faith in the team’s leadership:
“There are teams that turn it around, franchises that turn it around,” Hughes explained. “But when a head coach loses the locker room, that’s it. And Daboll’s grasp on this locker room? It is hanging on by a thread.”
The Giants’ locker room has undergone significant change over the last couple of seasons. The losses of team captains such as RB Saquon Barkley, S Xavier McKinney, and most recently QB Daniel Jones have affected the players’ trust in the team’s decision-makers.
The Giants have been in this situation several times before
Once a head coach loses the locker room, it usually doesn’t take too long after that for him to get fired, as Hughes mentioned. A similar story has unfolded on more than one occasion for the Giants.
Ben McAdoo seemed like he had earned the right to coach the team for several years after a playoff berth in his first season as head coach in 2016. But then the locker room turned on him near the end of the 2017 season and he was consequently fired.
Pat Shurmur was hired next in 2018 and seemed to coach the team admirably, particularly highlighted by his development of the-rookie quarterback Daniel Jones in 2019. But things went south, again, at the end of the regular season, and he was fired.
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Joe Judge stepped in for the 2020 season. He seemed to bring a spark to the organization’s culture. But that culture became toxic and the locker room was lost before the 2021 season, and, subsequently, so was Judge’s job.
Daboll was the AP Head Coach of the Year in 2022. That accolade, combined with a postseason berth and playoff win that season, earned him some extra time to lead this team. That time was expected to extend into 2025 and beyond. However, all the losing and drama that has unfolded this season could cause the locker room to turn on its head coach once again. Once that happens, the Giants might not have a choice but to hit the reboot button once again.
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