The Giants got it wrong when they hired Joe Judge, to put it simply and bluntly. After relieving Judge, the Giants are in the market for a new head coach. If New York wants to be successful anytime soon, they need to get this decision right. Luckily for John Mara and company, there are several highly qualified candidates out there, along with one candidate who the Giants may be able to recruit from the broadcasting booth. In this post, we'll be looking at the best (and potential) Giants head coaching candidates. 

New York Giants head coaching candidates to replace Joe Judge

4. Jim Harbaugh

The Giants desperately need a head coach with experience, upside, or both. They should look to the college ranks to find a coach who had previous success at the professional level. Enter Jim Harbaugh: The Michigan coach led the San Francisco 49ers to three conference championship games and one Super Bowl performance at the start of the last decade.

Harbaugh then saw success at Michigan, finally getting over the hump this season and defeating Ohio State to win the Big Ten championship and earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, where they ran into the buzzsaw that was the now-champion Georgia Bulldogs.

If Harbaugh is ready for a return to the NFL, the Giants should look into this. He has playoff experience, and will be able to help Daniel Jones (or whoever their next QB is) develop, while also building a team that will be able to succeed under the bright lights of the playoffs once they make it to the postseason.

3. Tony Romo

Many teams looking for head coaches will try and find the next Sean McVay: A young, offensive-minded and brilliant head coach. The Giants may be able to find that person courtesy of their arch rivals: The Dallas Cowboys.

Since his retirement from the NFL, Tony Romo has enjoyed an excellent career in the broadcasting booth, where he has become known for his ability to read the defense, break down what an offense might do, and essentially call the plays ahead of time. Romo would be an excellent mentor for Daniel Jones, or the team’s next quarterback.

Romo has respect around the league, and he is a natural leader. An argument could be made for Romo as offensive coordinator as well, although that may not be quite enticing enough to lure him down to the sideline. Ideally, Romo would be the offensive coordinator, a brilliant offensive mind to pair with one of the two defensive-minded head coaching candidates who are numbers one and two on this list.

Giants head coaching candidates continued…

2. Vic Fangio

Vic Fangio was recently fired by the Denver Broncos. Fangio helped to build an elite defense, and there is no doubt that he knows what he’s doing on that side of the ball. His biggest issue has been quarterback play: Fangio has had trouble finding offensive success despite talent at the skill positions, largely due to poor QB play and poor play-calling.

Fangio ranks second on my list of candidates, although I would ideally like to see him paired with the aforementioned Tony Romo as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. These two would balance out each other’s weaknesses perfectly, while complimenting each other’s strengths.

1. Brian Flores

The Giants should consider themselves extremely lucky that Miami made a huge mistake by firing Flores. Flores was clearly not fired for purely football reasons – he won games with a team that was supposed to be tanking, after all. Rather, he was relieved of his coaching duties largely because of disagreements with the owner and general manager, along with his somewhat icy relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

There were rumors that Flores never wanted Tua, that he wasn’t on the same page on draft night with owner Stephen Ross, or with the general manager. If it is true that Flores did, in fact, want Justin Herbert over Tua, well, I think many people around the league would give Flores credit for that decision. That’s not really a fireable offense if you are looking to build the best roster possible. That being said, Flores didn’t do a good enough job of building a strong relationship with his partners in the front office and ownership, nor did he apparently build relationships with players he wasn’t on board with drafting/signing, such as Tua.

That being said, these are flaws that can be worked around. Brian Flores is a good coach with a track record of productivity and success, particularly when his teams had no business having any such success.

The Giants desperately need to get this decision right, and Brian Flores, a coach with a history of winning games despite adverse circumstances, just fell right into their laps. The Giants cannot afford to mess this one up. For the best possible outcome, the Giants should hire Flores and pair him with Romo as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. This duo could very well lead New York back to the playoffs, and potentially the Super Bowl, sooner rather than later.