When the New York Giants promoted Mike Kafka to assistant head coach earlier this offseason, it was not necessarily a measure of goodwill.
There had been an ugly fallout and subsequent divorce with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, which came on the heels of special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey being fired. At the same time, rumors were swirling about head coach Brian Daboll’s explosive personality.
From a public relations standpoint, it would have created poor optics to have Kafka depart East Rutherford and Daboll to lose all three of his coordinators.
So with interest in Kafka rising — particularly from the Seattle Seahawks — the Giants opted to promote the offensive coordinator to prevent him from from taking a lateral position, which is something Kafka was open to.
One of Kafka’s primary concerns was that Daboll would strip him of play-calling duties, which happened several times throughout the 2023 regular season.
As it turns out, Kafka was justified in those concerns.
While speaking with reporters at the Annual League Meeting, Daboll confirmed that he is considering taking play-calling duties away from Kafka.
“It’s something I’m looking into,” Daboll said, via NFL Network. “I think there’s 20 head coaches at this point in time that call plays in the league (either offensively or defensively). . . There might be a little bit more. I’ve been doing a bunch of research, but no decision has been made. I’m still going through that process, thinking about what we need to do.”
Before being hired as the Giants’ head coach, Daboll handled the play-calling duties for the Buffalo Bills. That experience, he says, factors into the pending decision.
“Certainly,” he said. “I did it for a long time. There’s a lot of things that go into it. Part of the evaluation that I talked about, there are some other things that I’m looking into. I take my time and do what I think is best for the team.”
If Daboll does take on the added responsibility of calling the plays — something that appears certain at this point — how will it impact his remaining duties as head coach?
“Still working through that process,” Daboll said. “There’s quite a bit of people nowadays that do that. So, again, it’s something that I’ll look into. Whatever I feel is best for the football team, that’s the way we go.”
As it relates to Kafka, he can enjoy a nice new title for his resume and less responsibility on the job. This will undoubtedly be his final season in East Rutherford.
