For Jaxson Dart, This Ex-Cowboys Head Coach is Best Candidate After Giants Fire Daboll

After four consecutive losses and 11 straight road defeats, the New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll, whose tenure ended with a 20-40-1 record.

Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will take over as the interim lead skipper. At least for now, general manager Joe Schoen is safe, but that could change.

The Giants will evaluate the current regime through the second half of the season and make critical decisions about their future in the offseason. 

Of course, if Big Blue turns its recent frustrations into triumphs, team brass may want to retain some continuity, though most teams in this situation clean house and give the new administration a blank slate.

Here are eight candidates who could be hired by Schoen or help lead the franchise in a new direction.

Joe Brady, OC Buffalo Bills

AP Photo/Adrian Kraus

Barring his dismissal in the offseason, Schoen is in a position to pick the New York Giants' next head coach. He could consider a top candidate from his previous stop.

Between 2017 and 2021, Schoen was the Buffalo Bills assistant general manager under Brandon Beane. Though he didn't cross paths with Joe Brady at his previous position, the Giants executive knows his former employer has one of the league's top offensive operations.

In 2023, the Bills fired Ken Dorsey and promoted Brady from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. From that point, the offense took off like a rocket, and finished top 10 in scoring and total yards for the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. Entering Week 11, Buffalo is sixth in scoring and second in total yards.

Moreover, Josh Allen is coming off an MVP year, so Brady's stock isn't getting much higher unless the Bills win the Super Bowl.

During the previous draft cycle, Jaxson Dart drew comparisons to Allen. If Brady sees those similarities, he and the Giants may have mutual interest.

Mike Kafka, Interim HC/OC New York Giants

AP Photo/Butch Dill

Mike Kafka will serve as the Giants' interim head coach, an in-season audition for the full-time position. 

If Big Blue's offense trends in the right direction and Kafka protects Jaxson Dart with his play-calling, the club may not have a reason to look elsewhere for its candidates after going through the interview process.

Remember, the Giants promoted from within when they elevated Ben McAdoo from offensive coordinator to head coach after Tom Coughlin resigned in 2016. 

Over the last two years, Daboll played hot potato with Kafka on play-calling duties, but the latter will run the show going forward. 

Between 2018 and 2021, Kafka served as the Kansas City Chiefs' quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, meaning he had some influence on Patrick Mahomes' early development, an appealing selling point for him in an interview for the Giants' lead coaching job.

Lane Kiffin, HC Ole Miss

AP Photo/Thomas Graning

Jaxson Dart and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

Here's a wild-card candidate who makes sense for the position, solely because of the quarterback. At Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin coached Jaxson Dart for three terms, developing him into a first-round pick. 

At Ole Miss, Dart improved each year, and while he did use his legs in Kiffin's offense, the head coach's system featured the quarterback's arm, with fewer designed runs than we saw in the Giants' play-calling decisions over the past several weeks. Kiffin's play-calling could protect Dart from excessive hits as a ball-carrier.

The Giants have hired first-time head coaches in recent years. They gave Daboll his first opportunity, but team brass may be hesitant to pluck a head coach from the collegiate ranks, given its old-school approach to football operations.

Kliff Kingsbury, OC Washington Commanders

AP Photo/Gareth Patterson

In 2024, Dave Canales left his offensive coordinator position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to become Carolina Panthers head coach. This past offseason, Ben Johnson left the Detroit Lions for the Chicago Bears. So, it's not unheard of for a candidate to stay within the division. 

Kliff Kingsbury helped Jayden Daniels become the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Though the Washington Commanders offense has regressed this season, it's hard to blame Kingsbury with Daniels sidelined because of injuries.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn took the blame for keeping Daniels in the game for too long in a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

If the Giants prefer someone with a more extensive resume, Kingsbury could be an ideal candidate. He was the lead skipper of the Arizona Cardinals for four seasons and led them to the playoffs with an 11-6 record in 2021.

The 46-year-old offensive coordinator also has a track record of developing collegiate quarterbacks. 

Klint Kubiak, OC Seattle Seahawks

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

Because of Sam Darnold's red-hot start to the season, Klint Kubiak is one of the hottest unproven candidates who hasn't held a head coaching position.

Darnold leads the league in QBR (77.7) and yards per completion (14), and the Seattle Seahawks (7-2) field the third-ranked scoring offense.

Though Kubiak would be a first-time head coach, he's the son of Gary Kubiak, who was an NFL lead skipper for 10 years with the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl with the latter club. Kubiak can lean on his father for guidance if necessary.

That said, the 38-year-old offensive coordinator has built a decent resume in a short time. Under his tutelage, the Minnesota Vikings finished 14th in scoring and 12th in total yards for the 2021 campaign. He led an offense that scored 91 points in the first two weeks of the 2024 term in New Orleans, though it lost some steam due to injuries, including quarterback Derek Carr, who missed seven games. 

Now that Darnold and Seattle's offense are buzzing, the Giants may be interested in pairing Kubiak with Dart.

Mike LaFleur, OC Los Angeles Rams

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, two of the league's brightest offensive minds, hired Mike LaFleur as an assistant on their staffs. 

Between 2017 and 2020, LaFleur was the San Francisco 49ers' passing game coordinator under Shanahan, contributing to an offense that ranked 13th or better in passing yards for three of those terms. In title, he's currently the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator under McVay.

The Giants could strike play-calling gold, digging around McVay's coaching tree, like the Minnesota Vikings did when they hired Kevin O'Connell from the Rams. LaFleur's older brother, Matt, also held the offensive coordinator position on McVay's staff before he became Green Bay Packers head coach.

LaFleur had a short two-year stint as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator, fielding the 28th- and 29th-ranked scoring offenses, but he may be more prepared for a promotion and play-calling duties after a three-year run in Los Angeles with McVay.

Jesse Minter, DC Los Angeles Chargers

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

Among the defensive-minded candidates, Jesse Minter will generate buzz because of what he's done with the Los Angeles Chargers' units. 

With Minter calling the plays, the Bolts gave up the fewest points last season. Los Angeles currently ranks fourth and seventh in points and yards allowed, respectively. Despite losing star pass-rusher Khalil Mack for four games, the team is tied for fifth in sacks with 29.

Coming from the Jim Harbaugh coaching tree with those defensive rankings, Minter will draw consideration for head coaching positions in the offseason. Also, with an innovative defensive mind leading the club, Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux could become a game-wrecking trio on the edge.

Of course, Minter would need to bring in a quality offensive coordinator with Dart's development being the Giants' primary objective.

Mike McCarthy, Former HC Dallas Cowboys

AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy would be the safe choice among the potential candidates, with the best resume. He's a proven Super Bowl-winning head coach with a winning record at two blue-blood franchises: the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.

In Green Bay, McCarthy molded Aaron Rodgers in his early years. Also, under his tutelage, Dak Prescott led the league in QBR (73.4), completions (410) and touchdown passes (36) in a Pro Bowl 2023 campaign.

If the Giants want an old-school coach who is accomplished and knows how to build a winning program, McCarthy is by far the best option. 

Currently not employed by an NFL team, the 62-year-old will likely draw interest from multiple clubs with a head coaching vacancy, though the allure of coaching Dart may pique his interest in a return to the sidelines.

Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.