{"id":370340,"date":"2025-11-11T00:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/370340\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T00:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:21:11","slug":"mike-kafka-named-interim-giants-coach-after-brian-daboll-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/370340\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Kafka named interim Giants coach after Brian Daboll firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Kafka\u2019s wild ride with the Giants just reached a new apex.<\/p>\n

Kafka has gone from first-time play-caller offensive coordinator using Brian Daboll\u2019s 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<\/a> and was blocked by the Giants from making lateral moves.<\/p>\n

And now, he is the Giants interim head coach, succeeding the fired Daboll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery prepared, obviously smart and buttoned up,\u201d one NFL executive who has been part of interviewing Kafka told The Post. \u201cAll these interviews he\u2019s done have made him more than ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Giants fans who are invested in listening to the head coach\u2019s pre-practice and postgame interviews, the material likely just got even more \u201ccoach speak\u201d-y.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"NewGiants head coach Brian Daboll with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka during practice. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had a stronger, more confident presence around the building this year,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n

Of course, Kafka mostly will be judged on how the wayward Giants respond to his leadership \u2014 \u201cKaf brings the energy,\u201d running back Devin Singletary said over the summer \u2014 as well as whether rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Dart said recently when asked about having Kafka\u2019s voice in his headset. \u201cAll that stuff just comes from game planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kafka, 38, served as a one-week head coach in two college all-star showcases \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Over time, Kafka blended pieces of Reid\u2019s influence into the Giants offense.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> set back his timeline.<\/p>\n

It was co-owner John Mara\u2019s suggestion that Kafka reclaim play calling from Daboll after last season\u2019s one-year switch failed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Kafka\u2019s wild ride with the Giants just reached a new apex. Kafka has gone from first-time play-caller…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":370341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,49262,58347,405,403,4716,5226,5225,1232,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-370340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brian-daboll","10":"tag-mike-kafka","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-giants","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115528210064257099","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}