Jaxson Dart Explains Why Giants 'Can't Wait' to Play for John Harbaugh After HC Signs Contract

New York Giants players were rooting for the hiring of John Harbaugh even before the franchise officially brought him in as head coach, quarterback Jaxson Dart told ESPN's Jordan Raanan.

"When Coach Harbaugh's name came up, that was the one that we were all really, really excited about and wanted to have," Dart told Raanan. "So I think from just our standpoint, the guys just can't wait to play for him and have the chance to get coached by him."

When asked about what he expected when working with Harbaugh, Dart told Raanan: "Winning. A whole lot of winning. That's it."

The Athletic's Ian O'Connor and Dianna Russini previously reported Harbaugh had met with Dart while touring the facility before signing a five-year contract as the Giants' next head coach.

When asked in a Tuesday interview with NFL Network what excites him about Dart, Harbaugh answered, "Well, first of all, I think he's really good. I mean, that's what excites me the most, is how good he is.

"Past that, what excites me is who he is, what he's about. He's about football. He loves it. He loves everything about it, and he got me fired up. I was the same way. I was ready to run through a brick wall after I talked to him."

Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month after missing the 2025 playoffs in his 18th season with the teams. He left the Ravens with a .614 regular-season win percentage, a dozen playoff appearances and a Super Bowl ring from the 2012 season.

The Giants became one of the first teams to close their head coaching vacancy this season when they hired Harbaugh 11 days after his dismissal. The deal reportedly featured an agreement allowing Harbaugh to reshuffle the Giants' organizational chart by reporting directly to owner John Mara rather than general manager Joe Schoen, per The Athletic's Ian O'Connor.

That change could prove to be worth it for the Giants if Harbaugh can help Dart build on the potential he showed as a rookie despite the team's overall struggles in 2025.

While spending his first NFL season playing for former head coach Brian Daboll and former interim coach Mike Kafka, Dart took enough contact to go through multiple concussion evaluations while the Giants finished with a losing record for a third straight season.

The Giants will hope Harbaugh's decades of experience can help him both assist in Dart's development and lead the franchise back toward contention in 2026.