The Giants firing Brian Daboll opens up 2 Titans coaching staff opportunities for Cam Ward in 2026

The New York Giants became the second team in the NFL to fire their coach this season when they dismissed Brian Daboll on Monday.

Not only is he the second head coach fired, but he’s also the second Brian to be fired. Brutal time to be a Brian in the NFL, I guess.

Taking over in his stead for the final eight weeks of the season is OC Mike Kafka, who has been a popular head coach candidate for a couple of cycles now. Daboll and Kafka are now notable figures in the Titans’ pursuit of a new coaching staff for Cam Ward.

Brian Daboll’s original bromance with Cam Ward

It was extremely well-documented this season how much Daboll loved his rookie QB, Jaxson Dart, whom they took in the back of the first round. The praise he lavished on him at the podium, his body language around the young signal caller, and even borderline-fan fiction coming from inside the locker room via New York media gained a ton of traction.

It was adorable while it lasted.

But people forget that Dart was apparently Daboll’s rebound. The Giants had a very public interest throughout the draft cycle in trading up to the first overall pick with Tennessee. In fact, Giants GM Joe Schoen even called Titans GM Mike Borgonzi jokingly on draft night, asking about a last-minute change of heart. They wanted Cam Ward, and they wanted him badly enough to mortgage some serious future draft capital to land him.

That isn’t the kind of thing that’s attempted without the buy-in of the head coach. And now that Daboll is out of a head coaching job, he stands to be a top offensive coordinator candidate this winter. Whoever the Titans hire as head coach could consider Daboll’s track record of success as a designer of offense and try to pair him with Ward once and for all.

The big obstacle almost certainly in Tennessee’s way here is the Bills, who are the immediate favorites to land Daboll as an OC. Just as Robert Saleh went back to the place where he had enough success to land a head coaching job after the Jets eventually fired him, I suspect his old NYC neighbor, Daboll, will find the chance to return to Buffalo attractive.

And right now, Joe Brady appears to be on a fast track out of the OC job with Josh Allen & Co. sputtering under his leadership.

Mike Kafka’s final audition for a head coaching job

Giants OC-turned-interim head coach Mike Kafka has been a hot head coaching candidate for a couple of cycles. And now, he’s getting what feels like a final try-out before potentially landing a job.

After spending a handful of years working with Patrick Mahomes (and Mike Borgonzi) in Kansas City, Kafka was hired onto Daboll’s inaugural staff in New York to be OC. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2024, adding the title to his existing role.

Last year, he was one of the interviewees for the Chicago and New Orleans jobs. In 2024, the Seahawks and the Titans interviewed him for their head coaching job vacancies. And in 2023, he interviewed with the Texans, Panthers, and Colts.

Needless to say, interest in Kafka has been mighty high. And the only remaining step after years of interviews, being named assistant head coach, and now interim head coach, is to actually become a head coach.

His half-season audition the rest of this year may very well land him the Giants’ full-time gig, but if it doesn’t, I would be surprised if he wasn’t back on the Titans’ list of head coaching candidates in the winter.