Giants coaching search hits turning point with John Harbaugh's sudden availability

The Giants have reached out to several head coaching candidates as they begin their interview process. But a key name became available Tuesday night that will shake things up.

The Ravens fired coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons, including a Super Bowl title in 2013. He’ll be one of the hottest available candidates and immediately land in the forefront of the Giants’ radar if he wants to coach next season.

Harbaugh was 193-124 in Baltimore, including the postseason, and the NFL’s second-longest active tenured coach behind Mike Tomlin. The Ravens missed the playoffs for the first time since 2021 after going 8-9, only their third losing season under Harbaugh. They made the playoffs 12 times and reached four AFC Championship Games.

Given his winning track record, the Giants will likely give Harbaugh a call sooner than later. For now, the Giants have already made several interview requests.

Former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski will interview Wednesday, according to ESPN. The network also reported Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is expected to meet with the Giants.

NFL Network reported that the Giants requested to meet with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. The team also requested to interview Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, according to Sports Illustrated.

Wednesday is the first day teams can meet in-person for coaches not in the playoffs or virtually for coaches on teams that have first-round byes. For teams in the Wild Card round, candidates can be interviewed virtually on Jan. 13 or Jan. 14 in the case of the Texans-Steelers facing off on Monday.

Before Harbaugh’s dismissal, Stefanski was the hottest name on the market. He was twice named AP NFL Coach of the Year (2020, 2023) but was fired after the Browns finished 5-12 this season. During his six seasons in Cleveland, he was 45-56, including 1-2 in the playoffs.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart met with Stefanski during the pre-draft process last year and came away impressed.

“He’s had a really good career, especially from an offensive side of things,” Dart said Monday. “I thought the visit with him and his staff went well and I think he’s a really good coach”

Giants’ ownership is familiar with Stefanski, having requested to interview him in 2017 when he was the Vikings’ quarterback coach. At the time, that was to be the Giants’ offensive coordinator.

Stefanski wound up as the Vikings’ interim offensive coordinator during the 2018 season and was promoted to the job full-time the next season.

Joseph is in his third season coaching the Broncos’ defense. This season, the Broncos are second in total defense and rushing defense, and seventh in passing defense. With an NFL-leading 68 sacks, the Broncos are the sixth team to reach that total since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

Joseph was also defensive coordinator with the Dolphins in 2016 while Giants general manager Joe Schoen worked in the Dolphins’ front office.

Anarumo, a Staten Island native, is in his first season with the Colts. He was the Giants’ defensive backs coach in 2018 before the Bengals hired him as defensive coordinator from 2019-24.

Kubiak, in his first year in Seattle, helped the Seahawks finish third in scoring and eighth in total offense. The Seahawks are the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

Schoen said Monday the Giants will cast a wide net to search for candidates. With Harbaugh becoming available, that net was cast even wider as the candidate pool got more attractive for a job that’s equally attractive.

“There’s no directive that it has to be an offensive guy or defensive guy or special teams or college or whatever it may be, having head coaching experience previously,” Schoen said. “We are going to find the best leader for the franchise.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.