Stop me if you've heard this one before. After an NFL season in which a team's first-year quarterback looked promising but the overall record for the team simply wasn't very good, said team moved on from their head coach, opting to hire a veteran leader who was surprisingly on the market. The team then immediately turns things around and makes the playoffs.
Yes, it's the story of the 2025 New England Patriots, but after hiring John Harbaugh, it might be the story of the 2026 New York Giants as well. No, don't laugh. Hear me out here.
Hiring Harbaugh feels very similar to hiring Vrabel
After 18 seasons as the Ravens head coach, Harbaugh's tenure ended after a 2025 season that saw Baltimore miss the postseason, with the team finishing under .500 for the first time since 2021. Baltimore's front office obviously believed it was time to make a change, putting Harbaugh out there on the market where he immediately became the most sought-after name.
Sounds slightly similar to Mike Vrabel's departure from Tennessee, right? He didn't have the longevity or the Super Bowl win, but he did coach the Titans for six seasons and was let go despite being widely viewed as a good head coach. Can you really blame him for going 6-11 in a season where his starting quarterbacks were a washed-up Ryan Tannehill and a rookie Will Levis?
Head coach | Winning percentage |
|---|---|
John Harbaugh | .614 |
Mike Vrabel | .579 |
Now, Vrabel took a year off before joining the Patriots, while Harbaugh is joining the Giants immediately, but both coaches chose to go to a team that was in a similar situation: a team with a young quarterback who has shown glimpses of elite play despite being saddled with poor coaching.
Does this mean Jaxson Dart is the next Drake Maye? Not necessarily, but the speed with which Harbaugh took the Giants job certainly points to a level of confidence in the young quarterback, though I'm sure the huge contract didn't hurt either.
How the Giants can replicate the Patriots' success
Some good news and some bad news here for Giants fans. The good news is that the Giants might already be ahead of where the Patriots were at when Vrabel took over. New England had to go out and spend money for a wide receiver, but the Giants just have to hope Malik Nabers is able to come back healthy.
The bad news is that the Giants have to essentially cross their fingers and hope Dart is capable of making the same leap that Maye made. That won't be easy. Maye already had a few more things working in his favor than Dart does at the moment, especially as far as accuracy goes. 2024 Maye had a higher true completion percentage, pressured completion percentage and red zone completion percentage than 2025 Dart. Harbaugh has a tougher task, but not an impossible one.
Quarterback | Year | Games | QBR | Touchdowns | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drake Maye | 2024 | 13 | 55.2 | 15 | 10 |
Jaxson Dart | 2025 | 14 | 57.6 | 15 | 5 |
Because Dart did rank 15th among NFL quarterbacks this season in completion percentage from a clean pocket. If the Giants front office focuses on building in the trenches this offseason and keeping Dart clean, there's potential for a big leap. Dart also adds more on the ground than Maye, so you don't need him to be quite as accurate.
And Harbaugh's already made a crucial hire, just like Vrabel did. One of Vrabel's first moves was to hire Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator, which was a slam dunk move. Harbaugh, meanwhile, is expected to bring Todd Monken along with him as the next Giants offensive coordinator.
Former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken is expected to join John Harbaugh in New York with the Giants, per source.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 15, 2026
This has always been the plan.
The NFC East isn't quite as winnable as the AFC East, but it's not impossible. The Eagles feel like they're at a crossroads after a first-round playoff exit. The Cowboys have a tendency to, well...be the Cowboys. The Commanders have to hope Jayden Daniels comes back healthy and proves he wasn't a flash in the pan as a rookie.
Look: I'm not saying the Giants will be the No. 2 seed next season. I'm just saying that the 2026 Giants appear to share some important similarities to the 2025 Patriots, and that like with Vrabel, people should not underestimate what an elite coach and a very good offensive coordinator can do when paired with a talented young quarterback.