The Giants have landed their No. 1 target: John Harbaugh is expected to be their next head coach.
Harbaugh, 63, has agreed to coach the Giants, and the two parties are now working to finalize the terms of that agreement to make it official, a source confirmed to the Daily News.
The longtime Baltimore Ravens visited the Giants’ facility in East Rutherford, N.J., on Wednesday. He had dinner at nearby Elia Mediterranean Restaurant with a Giants contingent that included executive Chris Mara, director of player personnel Tim McDonnell and GM Joe Schoen.
Then he flew home from Teterboro Airport on Wednesday evening. But he plans to be back soon.
Harbaugh had planned to host the Tennessee Titans for a Thursday meeting at his house, but he cancelled that in anticipation of closing a deal with the Giants.
Harbaugh, who won a Super Bowl in 2012 and built a career .614 winning percentage during 18 seasons in Baltimore, instantly restores some credibility and professionalism back into a Giants franchise that has lost its way.
The Giants knew they needed to make a big hire.
Schoen promised a sweeping search to turn over every rock and interviewed several candidates, from former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to Denver Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.
But once the Ravens fired Harbaugh, the Giants went all-out for one man.
Chris Mara, who has stepped into a larger role during co-owner John Mara’s cancer battle, visited Harbaugh at his house last weekend to set the table for Harbaugh’s visit to New Jersey on Wednesday.
The Giants leaked tons of information about their heavy pursuit of Harbaugh during the chase, putting a lot of pressure on themselves to seal the deal. But Harbaugh was not turned off.
The two big questions now are what will become of Schoen in this new arrangement and who will be Jaxson Dart’s new offensive coordinator.
Sources told the Daily News during the process that they expected Harbaugh to either want Schoen out of the picture or that he would reduce Schoen’s role significantly at the very least in a more head coach-centric structure.
But early indications are that Schoen is as on board with this hire as anyone.
Todd Monken, Lamar Jackson’s most recent offensive coordinator in Baltimore, is the leading candidate to follow Harbaugh to New York to call plays for Dart.
Broncos quarterback coach Davis Webb and Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase are two names that intrigued the Giants as potential coordinators during this search, as well.
Interim Giants defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen, a close friend of Schoen’s, has always been expected to stay if Schoen does. That search always could evolve.
The big picture ramifications of Harbaugh’s hiring internally will be fascinating. He is expected to bring significant change to how the Giants run their building in all departments, which will shake up the organization.
The Giants seem to understand how badly they need it, though.
They have a 44-104-1 (.295) record and one playoff appearance since the start of the 2017 season.
Landing Harbaugh could be their first big win of many in their quest to get back on track.
