New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll spoke at the owner's meetings on Tuesday, and said several times that new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is a good teammate several times, according to Art Stapleton of NJ.com. That is especially relevant due to the reported tension between Daboll and former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale during the 2023 season. It seems as if Daboll might have taken a bit of a jab at Martindale with these comments.
Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale seemingly had a good relationship in 2022, when the Giants made the playoffs. However, the losing in 2023 seemingly brought out the tension, so Daboll and the Giants made a change, bringing in Shane Bowen. Martindale took the defensive coordinator job at the Michigan football program.
Although Daboll seemingly took a shot at Martindale, he did acknowledge that there were some things he would change about the way he handled things with the Giants in the 2023 season.
“Yeah, there's times where I wish I handled things a little bit differently. Certainly,” Daboll said, via Stapleton. “So you continue to grow, you continue to evolve and that's what I try to do every year.”
These comments come after John Mara admitted that there are times he wishes Daboll would “tone it down,” although he does not believe that the head coach behaves irrationally, according to Connor Hughes of SNY.
After winning coach of the year in 2022 by leading the Giants to a surprising trip to the playoffs, some areas that needed improvement were exposed in 2023, and the adjustment Daboll makes this offseason will be vital to his status as head coach. If it continues to spiral out of control in 2024, Daboll could be in danger of losing his job with another disappointing season.
What changes are coming for Brian Daboll and the Giants?
The most obvious change that is coming to the Giants this offseason is at defensive coordinator with Bowen coming in. It will be interesting to see how he fares, as his scheme is notoriously less reliant on blitzing than Martindale's was.
The other significant changes include the roster, with the departures of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, and the big addition of edge rusher Brian Burns. The Giants have shifted to focusing on building up the trenches on both sides of the ball this offseason. More questions will be answered in the draft, as the Giants are in the quarterback conversation, but could also come away with a high-end wide receiver with the No. 6 pick if there is no quarterback available that the team likes at that spot.
The last question is who will be calling offensive plays for the Giants? Mike Kafka has been retained as offensive coordinator, but Daboll's comments give reason to believe he might call plays in 2024, which was not the case in 2022 and 2023.
“I've been doing a bunch of research. But no decision's been made,” Daboll said, via Stapleton. “I'm still going through that process and thinking about what we need to do. … Whatever I feel is best for the football team, that's where we'll go.”
Daboll did note that there were 20 head coaches that were calling plays, either on the offensive or defensive side, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN. That certainly suggest that it is very possible that Daboll calls plays in 2024.
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