With Marcus Freeman out of mix, these are Giants’ most intriguing coaching candidates

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Bill Belichick and Lane Kiffin likely were never on it.

Either way, you can cross those three big names off the potential candidate rundown for the Giants’ head coaching job.

Still, plenty of intriguing targets remain.

Let’s take a look at them, as general manager Joe Schoen — who likely will stick around for 2026 — continues to run this search.

THE PROMINENT NAMES

John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Jon Gruden, Bill O’Brien, Mike McDaniel, Mike McCarthy, Matt LaFleur, David Shaw, Antonio Pierce, Kevin Stefanski

Analysis: Harbaugh, Tomlin and LaFleur have jobs in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay, respectively. Will that change after this season, via a firing or trade to the Giants?

(The same points hold true for the Browns’ Stefanski. He hasn’t won to the level of those other three coaches, but he does have two 11-win seasons in six years with Cleveland. Still, he went 3-14 last year and is 4-12 this year.)

Remember, a coach must agree to be traded in order for it to happen. It’s also possible all four of those coaches remain in place, with Stefanski seemingly the likeliest to get the boot.

Clearly, the Giants want a head coach with a winning track record. They haven’t hired someone who fits that description since Tom Coughlin in 2004. Among his replacements, Brian Daboll, Joe Judge and Ben McAdoo were rookies, and Pat Shurmur was a failed retread.

Gruden probably is still too nuclear in the wake of leaked emails that included homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic language and precipitated his resignation as Raiders coach in 2021. O’Brien, on the other hand, is an intriguing option if he wants to leave Boston College, where he is 9-16 through two seasons.

But like most of the other coaches on this list, O’Brien has significant NFL head coaching experience. And the Giants have deep ties to Boston College, which is co-owner John Mara’s alma mater.

McDaniel is a well-regarded offensive mind, but he has just been OK in Miami, which might retain him anyway, given his late-season surge.

McCarthy has won plenty, yet would still be something of a retread hire (though certainly not at the inept level of Shurmur).

Shaw and Pierce are wild-card candidates, albeit prominent names.

Shaw, now the Lions’ passing game coordinator, thrived as Stanford’s head coach, but has never led an NFL team.

Pierce is a well-regarded former Giants player, but he went just 4-13 in his lone season as the Raiders’ full-time coach after finishing 5-4 as their interim boss in 2023.

THE OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS

Joe Brady (Bills), Kliff Kingsbury (Commanders), Todd Monken (Ravens), Matt Nagy (Chiefs), Drew Petzing (Cardinals), Dan Pitcher (Bengals), Zac Robinson (Falcons), Arthur Smith (Steelers), Frank Smith (Dolphins), Adam Stenavich (Packers), Klint Kubiak (Seahawks)

Analysis: In this group of current NFL offensive coordinators, three guys have head coaching experience in the NFL: Kingsbury, Nagy and Arthur Smith. Is that something Mara is seeking? It very well might be. Still, all three of those guys were average at best while in the big chair. But maybe one of them could be the leader who maximizes Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart’s talent.

THE DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS

Ejiro Evero (Panthers), Jeff Hafley (Packers), Vance Joseph (Broncos), Jesse Minter (Chargers), Steve Spagnuolo (Chiefs), Anthony Weaver (Dolphins), Robert Saleh (49ers), Lou Anarumo (Colts)

Analysis: Hafley, a New Jersey native who grew up in Montvale, spent four seasons as Boston College’s head coach before returning to the NFL with the Packers in 2024. Joseph, Saleh and Spagnuolo have been NFL head coaches, though they all struggled badly (as Jets fans know in Saleh’s case). The Giants are obviously quite familiar with Spagnuolo, who wants another shot at a head-coaching job before concluding his elite career.

Anarumo is a Staten Island guy and former Giants secondary coach (for one season, in 2018) who interviewed for their head coaching job in 2022, when they hired Daboll. Anarumo has never been a head coach. But he figures to be in the mix again this time around.

Like all of these other defensive-minded coaches, he would need to bring in a skilled offensive coordinator/quarterback whisperer to mold Dart.