Before being named interim head coach of the New York Giants in the wake of Brian Daboll’s firing on Monday, Mike Kafka was reportedly almost stripped of his duties.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan spoke to one Giants player who described an instance of Daboll “exploding and threatening to take away playcalling from assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka after tight end Theo Johnson dropped a crucial third-down pass downfield against the Eagles.”
The Giants parted ways with Daboll and promoted Kafka on Monday after falling to 2-8 with Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears. As part of their joint statement, team president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch admitted, “The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise.”
Kafka joined the Giants as Daboll’s offensive coordinator upon his hiring in 2022 after working on the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coaching staff for five seasons. He was given the title of assistant head coach in 2024.
Now, it’s Kafka’s turn to run the show in New York while the team tries to finish off another year of rebuilding. The Giants have a promising young core led by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, so Kafka will have to prove that he can develop the team and show some improvements over the final seven games of the year.
Kafka will get started on trying to get the Giants back on track when they meet the Green Bay Packers (5-3-1) on Sunday.
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