The John Harbaugh hiring was not made official as of Friday evening but there is no reason to panic. The Giants fully expect that he will become the 24th head coach in franchise history, and that Harbaugh will be the answer to their football prayers.
An agreement between the Giants and Harbaugh was reached Wednesday night and it is believed that the financial terms are not an issue — he is expected to receive a five-year, $100 million contract. A deal such as this one is complicated, though, and certain language needed to be made crystal clear before the deal could be signed off on.
“It takes time,’’ someone in Harbaugh’s camp with knowledge of the negotiations told The Post on Thursday night.
A day later, talks were ongoing and lawyers were pouring through the paperwork.
“A good path,’’ was the message from the source, adding that there was no real hurry to get it done at any certain deadline.
“Getting close’’ another source said.
What should be made clear is that general manager Joe Schoen does not negotiate contracts for the head coach. That is under the purview of ownership — John Mara and Steve Tisch.
When this gets done, the Giants will not move in a vastly different direction as far as how the operation flows. Not with any major power-structure alterations but with the way the head coach influences the entire building.
Ben McAdoo in 2016, Joe Judge in 2020 and Brian Daboll in 2022 all arrived as former coordinators promoted to their first head coaching gigs.
Pat Shurmur in 2018 was an exception, as he previously was the Browns head coach for two seasons. McAdoo had Jerry Reese as his general manager, Judge and Shurmur had Dave Gettleman and Daboll had Schoen.
Harbaugh also gets Schoen as the two will work together for the first time in their long NFL careers. How that dynamic and relationship plays out could determine how successful the Giants will be moving forward.
Clearly, Schoen was an asset rather than an impediment in this coaching search. He was heavily involved and was a big part of the tag-team approach that landed Harbaugh. Schoen, co-owners Mara and Tisch and senior personnel consultant Chris Mara were out front in their pursuit.
Once Harbaugh settles in, it will be Schoen whom Harbaugh most closely works with on a daily basis.
The Giants hired Schoen in 2022 and he highly recommended Daboll to ownership as his choice to be the head coach. They developed a friendship from their shared time together in Buffalo and they remain good friends even after Daboll was fired by ownership 10 games into the 2025 season.
Daboll is 50, Schoen 46 and their families are also close.
This was unlike the way the front office and head coach aligned in past Giants iterations. General manager George Young and head coach Bill Parcells were not friends but they shared a vision for how to put together a roster. Accorsi was not friends with Jim Fassel but they were able to get the Giants to a Super Bowl. Accorsi had great respect for Coughlin but they did not socialize.
Harbaugh, 63, initially worked in Baltimore with Ozzie Newsome as the general manager and that partnership produced a Super Bowl victory after the 2012 season. Newsome was an established executive and he had control of the 53-man roster. Harbaugh had input, of course, but Newsome had final say.
“We have a great system here,” Harbaugh said in 2018. “Ozzie and I have a phenomenal relationship. We work every single day to be the best that we can be. He helps me, and I help him. He is involved in football, and I am involved in personnel. We understand each other’s areas, and we work together.”
Eric DeCosta, Newsome’s assistant, took over in 2019 and he and Harbaugh, in the 11 years they previously worked together, developed a strong bond. When DeCosta was promoted, he said, ”We live about 100 yards apart from each other, and I can tell you this, John is the only coach I want to work with.”
That came to be, until Harbaugh was fired Jan. 6 after the Ravens finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs, only the sixth time in 18 years Harbaugh failed to make it into the postseason. DeCosta, 54, was visibly distraught and fought back tears, according to reports out of Baltimore, when he told Ravens staff members that Harbaugh had been dismissed.
It takes time for a connection and an alliance to grow and strengthen. Schoen helped woo Harbaugh and Harbaugh is not a first-timer. Soon, the hard work of combining their talents to turn the Giants into winners gets underway.
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