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How will John Harbaugh fare in his first season as head coach of the New York Giants?
Well, depending on who you ask, he could end up doing anything from leading the Giants to the playoffs to falling victim to the same old tropes that have bedeviled his predecessors.
The Giants have had 12 head coaches since they restructured in 1979, 10 full-time and two interim. One of those coaches (Bill Parcells) is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and two others (Tom Coughlin, Dan Reeves) have received support for induction.
So, who had the best debut of all of the Giants' head coaches since they handed the football operations over to George Young in 1979? Hint: It's not Parcells or Coughlin.
The best head-coaching debut record over that span was 11-5, achieved by two men -- Dan Reeves and Ben McAdoo.
The first was by Reeves in 1993, when he led the Giants to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. The season ended in disaster with the worst playoff loss in franchise history, a 44-3 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional round at Candlestick Park.
The game is better known for the career finales of both Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms. The Giants missed the postseason the next three years, and Reeves was let go after the 1996 season.
McAdoo, taking the reins from Coughlin, who held the job for 12 seasons, led the Giants to the playoffs in 2016 and lost to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round. The season is most remembered for the notorious "boat trip" where the Giants' wide receiver group took an ill-timed jaunt to Florida before the playoff loss.
McAdoo opened the 2017 season with a 2-10 record and was sent packing along with general manager Jerry Reese after benching Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith, ending Manning's consecutive start streak.
Other winning debuts are by Jim Fassel (10-5-1 in 1997) and Brian Daboll (9-7-1 in 2022).
The worst head-coaching debut was, ironically, logged by Parcells, who opened his Giants' career with a 3-12 record in 1983. The team almost fired him, but decided to give him one more chance. He took full advantage. The Giants would go on to have winning records in six of the next seven seasons and win two Super Bowls.
Coughlin opened his 12-year tenure with a 6-10 campaign in 2004.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: How will John Harbaugh compare to other first-year Giants coaches?
Continue reading...
Well, depending on who you ask, he could end up doing anything from leading the Giants to the playoffs to falling victim to the same old tropes that have bedeviled his predecessors.
The Giants have had 12 head coaches since they restructured in 1979, 10 full-time and two interim. One of those coaches (Bill Parcells) is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and two others (Tom Coughlin, Dan Reeves) have received support for induction.
So, who had the best debut of all of the Giants' head coaches since they handed the football operations over to George Young in 1979? Hint: It's not Parcells or Coughlin.
The best head-coaching debut record over that span was 11-5, achieved by two men -- Dan Reeves and Ben McAdoo.
The first was by Reeves in 1993, when he led the Giants to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. The season ended in disaster with the worst playoff loss in franchise history, a 44-3 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional round at Candlestick Park.
The game is better known for the career finales of both Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms. The Giants missed the postseason the next three years, and Reeves was let go after the 1996 season.
McAdoo, taking the reins from Coughlin, who held the job for 12 seasons, led the Giants to the playoffs in 2016 and lost to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round. The season is most remembered for the notorious "boat trip" where the Giants' wide receiver group took an ill-timed jaunt to Florida before the playoff loss.
McAdoo opened the 2017 season with a 2-10 record and was sent packing along with general manager Jerry Reese after benching Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith, ending Manning's consecutive start streak.
Other winning debuts are by Jim Fassel (10-5-1 in 1997) and Brian Daboll (9-7-1 in 2022).
The worst head-coaching debut was, ironically, logged by Parcells, who opened his Giants' career with a 3-12 record in 1983. The team almost fired him, but decided to give him one more chance. He took full advantage. The Giants would go on to have winning records in six of the next seven seasons and win two Super Bowls.
Coughlin opened his 12-year tenure with a 6-10 campaign in 2004.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: How will John Harbaugh compare to other first-year Giants coaches?
Continue reading...
