Mike Kafka’s wild ride with the Giants just reached a new apex.
Kafka has gone from first-time play-caller offensive coordinator using Brian Daboll’s playbook in 2022 and 2023 to losing play-caller duties while gaining an assistant head coach title in 2024 to reclaiming play calling in 2025. Along the way, he interviewed to be the head coach of eight other franchises and was blocked by the Giants from making lateral moves.
And now, he is the Giants interim head coach, succeeding the fired Daboll.
“Very prepared, obviously smart and buttoned up,” one NFL executive who has been part of interviewing Kafka told The Post. “All these interviews he’s done have made him more than ready.”
For Giants fans who are invested in listening to the head coach’s pre-practice and postgame interviews, the material likely just got even more “coach speak”-y.
While Daboll mastered the art of saying nothing interesting into a microphone, Kafka could make Daboll sound like a stand-up comedian by comparison unless he is going to break from his shell now that he is in charge.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka during practice. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“He’s had a stronger, more confident presence around the building this year,” one source said.
Of course, Kafka mostly will be judged on how the wayward Giants respond to his leadership — “Kaf brings the energy,” running back Devin Singletary said over the summer — as well as whether rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s upward trajectory continues after he clears the concussion protocol and how he handles the added responsibilities of game management for a team mastering in blown leads.
“I think that we are able to see things the same way, and credit goes to them for getting us prepared to go out there on the field because when the checks are needed to be made, I know the exact look what needs to happen,” Dart said recently when asked about having Kafka’s voice in his headset. “All that stuff just comes from game planning.”
Kafka, 38, served as a one-week head coach in two college all-star showcases — the East-West Shrine Game in 2024 and the Senior Bowl in 2025. He will bring a much more even-keeled approach to the sideline than the combustible Daboll.
Kafka is a former third-string quarterback who once threw two interceptions for the Eagles in a game against the Giants. He began his coaching career at Northwestern but spent five seasons under Andy Reid with the Chiefs, where he was entrusted as the first quarterbacks coach for starter Patrick Mahomes and eventually became passing game coordinator.
Over time, Kafka blended pieces of Reid’s influence into the Giants offense.
The Giants see the next seven games as an audition for Kafka to take over the full-time job and maintain continuity for Dart, though that should come with a warning because former Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was seen as a future head coach until an ugly interim stint in 2024 set back his timeline.
It was co-owner John Mara’s suggestion that Kafka reclaim play calling from Daboll after last season’s one-year switch failed.