The plan is coming into sharper focus.
As of Sunday afternoon, John Harbaugh did not have any interviews on the books with any of the seven teams working through a head coaching vacancy. He and his camp will meet Monday, the list will be cut down and a schedule will be finalized.
For those salivating at Harbaugh coming to the Giants, have no fear about their standing at the moment. However many teams he ends up meeting with, the Giants will be one of those teams.
At this point, the wheres and whens are undetermined. If Harbaugh narrows the contenders for his services to three teams, perhaps he has those teams meet him closer to his home in Baltimore — Philadelphia, perhaps. If the list of contenders is only two teams, Harbaugh could make two trips, check out the team facility at both stops and proceed with the interview process.
How will Harbaugh pare down the list? He has been studying the rosters, watching tape and speaking with personnel people about the strengths and weaknesses of the teams vying for his services.
And here is some advice to teams that are convinced that Harbaugh is the right person to turn around the fortunes of the franchise: Once you sit down with him, do everything possible to make that interview the last one he has, even if it is the first one he takes.
In addition to the Giants, the Dolphins, Falcons and Titans are believed to be the top tier of contenders. If the Packers job comes open, that would also be an attractive option.
The Giants, led by general manager Joe Schoen, have been aggressive with their interest in Harbaugh, fully knowing he is a top candidate in a year with several strong options, including Mike McCarthy and Kevin Stefanski, both former NFL head coaches.
John Harbaugh IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Only in a unique hiring cycle can a head coach candidate who has won a Super Bowl and owns a .608 winning percentage with two different franchises fly under the radar. That has been the case with McCarthy, who Tuesday will interview with the Giants.
McCarthy in most years would not be considered a fallback option and might not be one this year. It feels that way, though, with Harbaugh on the open market after his 18-year run with the Ravens ended last week.
McCarthy won the Super Bowl with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers after the 2010 season. More recently, he won 12 games in three consecutive years with the Cowboys. McCarthy, 62, is known for his work with quarterbacks, which makes a potential pairing with Jaxson Dart highly interesting.
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The Giants also put in a request to interview Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. That will be conducted virtually, with the Rams still alive in the NFC playoffs. Shula, 39, will also reportedly meet with the Titans and Dolphins. He is the grandson of Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, the son of former NFL assistant Dave Shula and the nephew of Mike Shula, the Giants offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019 for head coach Pat Shurmur.
The Giants have conducted three in-person interviews: Kevin Stefanski, Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce. They also did an interview with Mike Kafka, their interim head coach. The Giants completed virtual interviews with Vance Joseph, Klint Kubiak and Darren Rizzi.
Pierce is well-known in the Giants facility — there’s a large picture of him in a hallway — as the starting middle linebacker for the 2007 team that made a stunning postseason run, culminating in the epic upset victory over the previously unbeaten Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl. Pierce, 47, went 5-4 as the Raiders interim head coach in 2023 — routing the Giants in his interim debut — but was dismissed after a 4-13 season in 2024 as the head coach.
An account of his interview with the Giants is that it went well, with Pierce impressing his former team with his passion and how much he learned from his head coaching experience with the Raiders. What was clear with Pierce is that he is a natural motivator and he loves the Giants.