A man once known for his repeated criticisms of one New York Giants head coach is now coming to the emphatic defense of another.
Retired Giants great, Tiki Barber, has grown tired of the Brian Daboll criticism in recent weeks and shredded the narrative that Daboll is the reason some coordinators, assistants, and staffers are unhappy and reportedly want out in East Rutherford.
“I keep hearing these nonsense takes, ‘It’s an indictment on Brian Daboll that Mike Kafka might not be here,'” Barber said on WFAN this week. “Maybe Mike Kafka just wasn’t good here, and it was more of an indictment on Mike Kafka.
“Same thing with (special teams coordinator Thomas) McGaughey. I’d watch special teams for the Giants and be frustrated that those guys didn’t know what the hell they were doing. Is it on Daboll, or is it on Daboll to hold him accountable, which he did? Is it on Daboll to hold his offensive coordinator accountable? He did, sometimes taking the play calling away from him. That’s what a good head coach does.”
Ultimately, all failures fall at the feet of the general manager and head coach. That’s the nature of the business and all business — you know what rolls downhill.
But it is true — the Giants underwhelmed in all three phases of the game, largely due to injuries and an already lacking roster. They didn’t have the depth to overcome those issues and rushed to compete during a rebuild, which was the Achilles heel for the previous three regimes as well.
Still, those aren’t the issues that have allegedly caused such dissatisfaction within 1925 Giants Drive. Reports from Jay Glazer, Pat Leonard, Jordan Raanan, and others all suggest the problems are the result of disrespectful person-to-person interactions.
Barber still isn’t buying that, however.
“The narrative of, ‘This sounds like trouble for the Giants because Daboll has problems with his coordinators,’ maybe the coordinators sucked in those moments!” Barber said. “You should have a problem with them. I’m serious.”
Maybe. But when everyone at the party gets along except with one guy, is it that lone guy who’s the problem or is it all of the other partygoers?
