During Harbaugh’s nearly two-decade tenure with the Ravens, which began in 2008, the Giants cycled through five full-time head coaches. The final four — Daboll, Joe Judge, Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo — have come and gone since Tom Coughlin resigned after the 2015 season.
Owners of four Super Bowl titles, the Giants, founded in 1925, are one of the league’s oldest and most respected franchises, but have not won or gone to the Super Bowl since the 2011 season. Their success since then has been abysmal, with the 2016 and 2022 hitters standing out as outliers in an otherwise miserable 15 years since Coughlin, Eli Manning and Co. last drew the Lombardi Trophy.
Harbaugh will be tasked with returning New York to the perennial NFC heavyweight it once was.
Although the Giants are coming off a 4-13 season and have only 13 wins over the past three years, the cupboard is hardly bare.
2025 first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was part of Harbaugh’s interview with the team on Tuesday, is a dual threat who showed mountains of potential as a rookie. Elsewhere on the offensive line, left tackle Andrew Thomas is among the NFL’s top picks at the position, 2024 first-rounder Malik Nabers and 2025 rookie quarterback Cam Skattebo are both returning from season-ending injuries. Defensively, the Giants boast a notable front led by pro bowler Brian Burns along with No. 3 pick Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter.
Harbaugh’s impact on the Giants is unlikely to be one of massive roster metamorphosis, but of changing the culture in the building and building confidence. Among his first orders of business will be rallying his staff. Names sure to be discussed will be each of his previous two offensive coordinators: Todd Monken and Greg Roman.
Just how he works with general manager Joe Schoen to determine the team’s infrastructure will be a huge offseason storyline.
Harbaugh, in just his third NFL job despite coaching in the league for nearly three decades, is effectively returning to the NFC East.
From 1998 to 2007, he was the special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Ravens in 2008.
Harbaugh has a 180-113 season record, the winningest coach in Ravens history with 100 wins. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens went to the playoffs in 12 of their 18 years, won six AFC North titles and won Super Bowl XLVII.
When the Ravens fell so far short of lofty expectations in 2025, however, he was dismissed.
His name was immediately associated with the Giants, seemingly a great fit: a storied veteran coach with a long history of winning and a storied franchise long in search of the right general to lead them back to glory.
With Harbaugh making his decision, the recruiting process is sure to speed up, but all that matters in Gotham is that the Giants got their guy.