In a not-so-shocking revelation, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll said he is leaning toward calling the offensive plays this season.
“We’re moving in that direction,” Daboll told reporters on Thursday when asked about him calling the plays going forward. “Take next week and ultimately make the decision here before 16 days.”
Daboll has called the offensive plays in the Giants’ first two preseason games and will do so again in Saturday night’s preseason finale against the Jets.
Last season, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka called the plays. This year, with Daboll purging his staff of many senior assistants (with the exception of Kafka), he wants more control over the team and its strategy.
Kafka has been up in the booth since Daboll took over the play-calling. He said earlier in camp the situation was working out fairly well.
“It’s very open. It’s a very open dialogue, very open conversation, very collaborative,” Kafka said, which supports Daboll’s opinion. “Like I’ve said in the past, after each series we kind of regroup and talk about what happened and things that we need to clean up and get fixed and we go and watch it as a staff and talk about those same things and even more specifically, then we get it to the players and go and talk about it.
“In the afternoon, we’ll come back out here in a walk-through setting and go over those adjustments. So it’s a constant process of just evaluation and working to get better.”
So, if Kafka isn’t calling plays as the coordinator, what are his current responsibilities?
“During the week, I’m helping Dabs put together the offense, talking about the scheme, talking about the players, talking about our roster and what that looks like on the offensive side of the football,” Kafka said.
“At the practice field, I’m helping complement the coaches and help coach and orchestrate how we’re going to operate on offense as far as practice flow, organizing drills and how we’re going to do those things. It’s an open communication, and it’s things that pass through me to Dabs, and we talk about how Dabs wants to run it, and then we go back and execute it for him.”
Kafka is back with the Giants after riding the head coaching carousel again this past offseason. He did not get any offers, so he reverted back to the Giants.
It seems like Daboll is safeguarding himself for the eventuality of Kafka’s departure.
