Brian Daball was already the frontrunner to fill the Giants’ head coaching vacancy. Now he is the first known finalist for this job.
Daball, the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator, will be the first candidate to conduct a second interview with the Giants. According to sources, he will conduct an in-person interview on Tuesday at the team’s facility in East Rutherford, NJ.
Duboll gets a second interview before the Giants have their first interview with candidates Brian Flores, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Pat Graham, current Giants defense coordinator. Flores and Graham are expected to be interviewed later this week.
Dabolle’s derby is heating up because the Bills’ crushing playoff loss to the Chiefs on Sunday means Dabolle is eligible to be hired as head coach immediately.
New general manager Joe Sean is leading the quest, and the urgency of bringing Daball to New Jersey confirms what many league sources believe: Duball is Sean’s top choice.
The Miami Dolphins are considered to be the Giants’ strongest rival for him. Daboll coached Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Alabama, served as the Fins’ offensive coordinator in 2011, and has already been interviewed for the position.
However, Daball won’t be the first candidate to interview the Giants in person.
It was Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn of Morristown, New Jersey, who visited the Giants base on Monday for his first interview with the team.
The Giants said Quinn met with co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, VP of Human Resources Chris Mara and new GM Joe Schoen.
And take it for granted, but a source told the Daily News that the Giants have also requested an interview for the defensive coordinator position with Dallas Cowboys’ Joe Witt Jr.
Witt Jr., 43, is the defensive passing coordinator/secondary coach for the Cowboys. For the past two years, he has worked under Quinn in Atlanta (2020) and Dallas (2021). And he spent time in Green Bay with Graham (2018) and Giants linebacker Blake Martinez (2016-18).
The Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks also requested an interview from DC with Witt Jr.
Graham is still the Giants’ current defensive coordinator with an on-deck head coach interview, but the Pittsburgh Steelers also requested an interview with Graham at their DC opener. Keith Butler of Pittsburgh just retired after seven seasons in office.
Quinn is the hottest head coach candidate in the league this cycle. He is reportedly shortlisted by the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears after their first rounds of interviews.
The Giants actually informed Quinn of their interest in him the previous week before hiring Sean so they could talk to him before he was hired elsewhere. Sources say that Quinn was also on Sean’s list of candidates.
Sean, a former Bills assistant general manager, was hired as the Giants’ new general manager last Friday. He immediately interviewed the first three head coach candidates over the weekend: Daball (Friday), Bills, DC, Leslie Frazier (Saturday), and Bengals, DC, Lou Anarumo (Sunday).
Quinn finished fourth on Monday.
Sean’s opening press conference is scheduled for 11:45 am on Wednesday. The team is not expected to hire a coach until then.
The Giants are not legally allowed to hire a coach until they have personally interviewed at least one external minority candidate, which they have not yet done.
Also, if they want to get a second interview with Anarumo, whose Bengals are still playing, the Giants will normally have to wait until after the AFC Championship game to reconnect.
