Brian Daboll's Top Landing Spots After Reportedly Being Fired by Giants

The New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, according to multiple reports, while promoting offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to interim head coach.

The change didn't come as the biggest surprise after the Giants started 2-8 for the third straight year. It does open the question of what Daboll's next move might be, however.

It's hard to see him getting another head-coaching gig in the NFL anytime soon after going 20-40-1 while leading the Giants. But it wouldn't be surprising to see him land on a coaching staff in some capacity elsewhere, with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans among the more interesting possibilities.

North Carolina

Daboll spent 11 seasons under Bill Belichick in New England across two separate stints, serving as a defensive assistant (2000-01), wide receivers coach (2002-06), assistant coach (2013) and tight ends coach (2014-16), so it wouldn't be surprising to see the pair reunite in Chapel Hill.

This is all predicated on Belichick remaining the head coach going forward, of course, an uncertainty given the team's 4-5 start in 2025. Whether Daboll would supplant Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator or come aboard in an advisory role in such a scenario is obviously unknown. But Belichick tends to keep his guys around, and Daboll was one of his guys for many years.

Buffalo Bills

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In Daboll's four seasons as Buffalo's offensive coordinator (2018-21), he led the offense to top-five finishes in both yards and points twice. More importantly, he helped Josh Allen develop during his early years.

"In terms of my path of my career and getting better, he was probably the most influential one," Allen told reporters about Daboll back in 2023. "He's a guy that I [would] talk to each and every day."

"He's meant so much to me in my football career and in my life for that matter," he added at the time.

The Bills have rolled with Joe Brady as the offensive coordinator since Nov. 2023, and he's had success in that role, so it's hard to imagine Daboll supplanting him unless Buffalo falls apart down the stretch. But Daboll could be brought aboard in a different role, a move that almost assuredly would please Allen.

Houston Texans

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The Texans fired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik after the 2024 season and replaced him with Nick Caley. The results have been... disappointing.

The Texans rank 15th in yardage (331.2 YPG) and 19th in points scored (22.7 PPG), and quarterback C.J. Stroud (1,702 yards, 11 touchdowns, five interceptions) has not returned to the borderline-elite form he showcased as a rookie in 2023 (4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions). Houston is just 4-5, and a disappointing offense is a major reason why.

Could the Texans go with a third offensive coordinator in as many seasons next year? It's certainly possible, and Daboll's experience coaching a number of young quarterbacks throughout his career could potentially be beneficial to Stroud. If Houston's season ends in disappointment and Caley is canned, Daboll is a name to monitor.

The College Ranks

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There are a number of high-profile coaching vacancies in the college game at the moment, including LSU, Penn State, Florida, Arkansas and UCLA. Might one of them consider a pursuit of Daboll?

His NFL pedigree would make him a relatively splashy hire, albeit a risky one, given his only prominent role for a college program was the one year he served as Alabama's offensive coordinator in 2017.

The college game offers its own complications, as Belichick has learned this season, with NIL and the transfer portal changing the landscape of the sport. There's also the adjustment of relating to much younger players than the NFL.

But Penn State, for instance, had relative success going the NFL-to-college route with Bill O'Brien, and a few programs might be enticed by Daboll's long NFL résumé. It wouldn't be a surprise if his name was floated in a few college searches.