In the aftermath of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale “parting ways” with the New York Giants, several reports have surfaced suggesting that head coach Brian Daboll is erratic and irrational, and regularly dresses down his assistants in a personal fashion.
Those reports continued on Monday with Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News peeling back the curtain on the Giants’ internal strife even further.
In a deep dive into the deteriorating situation in East Rutherford, Leonard revealed several new details, including Daboll placing blame for the poor offensive performance on other coordinators and a complete refusal to accept any blame for the regression in 2023.
Leonard reveals that Daboll repeatedly took over play-calling, often losing his temper with coordinators for doing what he asked, all while deflecting any responsibility.
Passing the buck
In Week 11, Daboll reportedly slammed Martindale for allowing the Washington Commanders to remain in the game despite that unit’s solid performance.
It was a repeat offense for Daboll.
Wink Martindale’s defense had forced four turnovers. Thomas McGaughey’s special teams unit had forced another. And Mike Kafka’s offense, with Tommy DeVito at quarterback, had scored two of its three touchdowns on short fields off those takeaways.
But now Washington’s offense was driving, aided by a Kayvon Thibodeaux roughing the passer penalty outside the red zone. And that’s when Brian Daboll started playing the blame game on Martindale and the defensive staff:
“You’re gonna lose this game just like you lost us the Jets game,” Daboll griped on the headset, according to numerous sources in the building.
Daboll was blaming the defense for the Giants’ infamous 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets on Oct. 29, in which the offense had thrown for -9 yards and Daboll’s late-game mismanagement had opened the door to a full-scale, team-wide meltdown.
Not productive
Daboll is never short on criticism but, apparently, is always short on solutions. That’s the trademark of an under-performer.
Daboll’s sideline behavior was destructive, in many coaches’ opinions. His input was never proactive, always reactionary. And his outrage was rarely accompanied by a suggested solution.
“He has no composure,” one team source said.
Schoen started listening in
Martindale reportedly reached out to Giants ownership as a way to circumvent Daboll, which eventually led general manager Joe Schoen to listen in on the dysfunction.
Now Schoen was monitoring the dynamic at Washington after being alerted by several meaningful parties that Daboll’s behavior and the sideline dynamic were not constructive.
Schoen would stay on the headsets for four games, sources say – against the Commanders, Patriots, Packers and Saints – before stepping back offline for the final three.
Repeatedly assumed control
Daboll is demanding — taking play-calling duties from Mike Kafka, giving them to other assistants, and then giving them back at random.
Daboll took playcalling away from Kafka multiple times, according to sources, and gave it back each time. He gave it to QB coach Shea Tierney for the second half at Dallas in Week 10, per sources.
Daboll’s “unpredictability,” one source said, was his defining trait. There was no pattern, rhyme or reason to his changes from others’ perspectives.
Daboll also took over Kafka’s offensive meetings in Week 7 ahead of a home game against Washington, as the Daily News first reported. And he didn’t give complete control back to Kafka until Week 11, after the offense had averaged 11.75 points during that 1-3 stretch.
Warning for assistants
Want to join the New York Giants? Don’t, say some who have experienced Daboll’s wrath.
The story of the Giants’ 2023 undoing isn’t about a personal feud between Daboll and Martindale and the past, though. It’s about bad football and a flawed process that still exists inside the Giants’ walls.
It’s about an organization with enough problems that one Giants staffer recently advised an NFL assistant calling about a vacancy:
“Do not come here.”
Destructive ego
Daboll is reportedly never wrong while all of those around him are always wrong. Although he apparently has no solutions, he doesn’t hesitate to place blame.
Daboll receives advice on his headset in those moments from an analytics and game management team. But one source called that collaboration a “broken process,” saying it’s not thorough or advanced. And regardless of what is discussed during the week, Daboll’s game day decisions become up-for-grabs, impulse calls without guardrails.
“It’s like, ‘Wait, what did we have that meeting for?” the source said. “There’s a lot of inconsistency or doing the direct opposite of what we had talked about. The rest of the league is too far ahead, and you see it affecting the results of games.”
Scripted show
When Daboll gave Martindale the game ball following a Week 12 victory over the New England Patriots, it seemed staged and dishonest. And that’s because it was.
No one viewed Daboll giving Martindale the game ball after that 10-7 win over the Patriots as genuine. It was seen as a transparent, staged, public relations move. The players, however, did not mutiny. Daboll had cultivated support in the locker room.
Players stood by him publicly. One player said Daboll’s 2022 playoff berth and win still carried weight during this down time. Players also responded to a lighter practice schedule from training camp to the team’s walkthrough-filled final three weeks of the season.
Plenty of people in the building, including players, coaches and executives, said Daboll bought meaningful capital with last year’s success. But that now the pressure should turn up in Year Three because of how badly Year Two went.
