Brian Daboll has said he’ll make a decision by Giants training camp in regards to adding play calling to his many duties. But it appears the head coach already has made up his mind.
He made the calls when the Giants did full team drills during OTAs and minicamp. And he’s talked about taking over as chief play-caller since March. That’s when he first told reporters that he was thinking of taking over duties from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
He’ll officially make the decision by the end of training camp, which means it’ll come in time for the Giants season opener against the Vikings, Sept. 8, at MetLife Stadium.
“I’ve called plays for a long time,” Daboll told reporters in late May. “So it’s good to get out here at practice and do it, but there’s a whole process that goes through with it. There’s training camp. There’s OTAs. And I’ll make the decision, like I said back in March, that I feel is best.”
This will be a significant year for the Giants and Daboll. The team made the playoffs in 2022, his first season in the Meadowlands. But with a bevy of injuries and a porous offensive line, the Giants finished 6-11 in 2023. New York ranked 30th (out of 32 teams) in scoring. If you can’t score, it’s difficult to win games. That’s a football 101.
Daboll, 49, has been an offensive coordinator for four NFL teams and for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He’s best known for his four-year stint as OC and play caller for the Bills. That assignment led to the Giants head coaching job in 2022.
So no wonder he’s kicking around the idea of calling plays again. It could be a difficult gig. New York lost star running back Saquon Barkley to the Eagles during free agency. But they did add four new offensive linemen in free agency.
Rather than drafting a quarterback, the Giants decided to give Daniel Jones at least another season as the starter. Jones missed most of 2023 with neck and knee injuries. But just in case Jones is hurt again, New York added Drew Lock in free agency. They still have fan favorite Tommy DeVito, too. They then used the sixth pick of the draft to select LSU star receiver Malik Nabers.
Back in March, Daboll brought up play-calling duties.
“It’s something I’m looking into,” Daboll said during a media availability at the NFL owners meetings.“I think there’s 20 head coaches at this point in time that call plays in the league (either offensively or defensively).
“There might be a little bit more. I’ve been doing a bunch of research, but no decision has been made. I’m still going through that process, thinking about what we need to do. … I did it for a long time. There’s a lot of things that go into it. Part of the evaluation that I talked about, there are some other things that I’m looking into. I take my time and do what I think is best for the team.”
