Is Change Being Contemplated By Giants at Offensive Coordinator?

Despite the New York Giants offense having finished at or near the bottom of the league in nearly every major category, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has continued to draw interest from teams needing a head coach, with reports of Seattle and Tennessee requesting interviews with the 36-year-old former quarterback.

While the head coaching carousel is just starting to pick up steam and Kafka is on it, if his bid to land a head coaching job falls short, that doesn't mean he'll return to the Giants in 2024. Although head coach Brian Daboll told reporters the expectation was for Kafka to return, things could change in a New York minute.

When asked if his expectation was for Kafka (assuming he returned) to continue calling plays, Daboll was non-committal in his response.

"Those are conversations we’ll have here over the next few months about what direction we’ll go, and we’ll make those decisions as we do a full evaluation," he said.

That has raised some questions about whether Daboll, a former play-caller, intends to take over that aspect next season at the expense of Kafka.

Such a decision would be Daboll's right as head coach, and it would make total sense if the Giants intend to draft a quarterback for the future whom Daboll would personally sign off on. Daboll, who is coming off a 6-11 season, needs to do his part in getting the team back on an upward trajectory, he would no doubt want to take a full hands-on role with the development of a young quarterback, much in the same way as he worked with Josh Allen of the Bills when he was their offensive coordinator.

That hands-on role would likely include calling the plays, at least initially, which would mean a significant role change for Kafka that could be viewed as a demotion--and an action that might prompt him to seek employment elsewhere, even if it's a lateral move.

If Kafka and the Giants were to part, the expectation is that quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, who, per a Daily News report, let Tierney call plays in the second half of the Week 10 game against Dallas, would be promoted to offensive coordinator with the likely plan being Daboll would call the plays at first to get a quarterback settled in before turning the role over to Tierney.

The Giants are letting the process play out as Kafka goes through his head coaching interviews. The easiest and cleanest way would be for him to get a head coaching job, which would be a promotion. Absent that happening, what happens after that should offer some insight into what Daboll and the Giants think regarding the quarterback position.