Updated Jan. 16, 2026, 4:18 p.m. ET
The New York Giants’ pursuit of John Harbaugh has hit an unexpected roadblock, with reports indicating that an internal power struggle is delaying a potential deal to bring the former Baltimore Ravens head coach to East Rutherford.
Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports that the primary issue centers on general manager Joe Schoen and the level of personnel control Harbaugh would have in a new Giants structure.
There were rumblings on Friday that GM Joe Schoen’s role in this new dynamic could be one of the factors creating a hangup.
Harbaugh has more leverage right now than he has ever had before, and than he ever will have again. He has participated for years in direct personnel conversations with former Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, one of the best to ever do the job, and with Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta.
There is no reason for Harbaugh to accept this job without decision-making power in personnel.
Several sources told the Daily News during the Giants’ courtship that they expected Harbaugh to either want Schoen gone or to reduce his power in the Giants’ new structure. So this should be no surprise to anyone.
“Joe can’t negotiate,” one league source told the New York Daily News. “It becomes personal.”
Other issues also reportedly persist.
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The Giants’ training room, video department and public relations staff are three areas of the organization, for example, that have been insulated even from the supposed sweeping firings of previous regime changes.
Jettisoning long-tenured personnel with ties to ownership is one of the most sensitive subjects in the building, and if Harbaugh’s desire to bring his own people into New Jersey means getting rid of some of the most protected personnel behind the scenes in East Rutherford, N.J., that promises to ruffle feathers.
Again, these should have been topics that Harbaugh and the Mara and Tisch families and Schoen all discussed prior to the former Ravens coach agreeing to take the job overnight Wednesday.
But something clearly struck a nerve and held this up when they sat down to put it in writing.
Separate reports have noted Harbaugh’s initial reservations about working alongside Schoen and stressed that his arrival is not a foregone conclusion, underscoring the complexity of the ongoing negotiations.
