Offense? Defense? NFL experience? Giants to cast a wide net in their coaching search

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The groundwork to find the New York Giants' next coach began not long after Brian Daboll was fired in November.

Joe Schoen went to work doing research and coming up with a list of potential candidates.

Now that the NFL regular season is over, the search begins in earnest. Interim coach Mike Kafka will get a courtesy interview, though that's just the start of the “wide net” Schoen promised to cast after ownership confirmed he'd be back for a fifth year as general manager.

“There’s no directive that it has to be an offensive guy or a defensive guy or special teams or college or whatever it may be — having head coaching experience previously,” Schoen said Monday. “There’s several criteria that we’re going to look for, leadership being an important element in the head coaching world. Football acumen will be important. Player development is very important, having a plan for player development (along with) holding people accountable and communication.”

Helping franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart take his game to the next level after an impressive rookie season is perhaps the most important job for whoever takes over. Dart on locker-cleanout day said he trusts Schoen and the owners to make the right hire and believes he can work with any coach.

“I definitely feel like there’s a relationship standpoint from a quarterback-to-head coach thing that you want, and I think that will help you play better on the field,” said Dart, who threw for 15 touchdowns and ran for nine more in his first 12 starts in the league. “You definitely want somebody who can match my intensity and I can match theirs and have the same vision and outlook of how we want things to be done and to win at the highest level.”

An older teammate invoked the name of the most recent person to win at the highest level with the Giants when asked what qualities he'd like to see in the next coach.

“Somebody that’s Tom Coughlin-esque,” veteran receiver Darius Slayton said. “It’s no mistake why he won when he was here was his personality and the way he went about his business, and I think it takes a certain type of person to be a head coach in New York. It’s tough job. It obviously comes with a lot of scrutiny, but I think you need to have a certain disposition to get the job done effectively and I feel like he probably embodies a lot of qualities that we require now.”

New York has had seven coaches since Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl champion, retired from coaching following the 2015 season. Counting two playoff games, they have gone 45-105-1: a winning percentage of .300.

“No matter who the coach is, the players got to step it up,” said running back Cam Skattebo, who had his rookie year cut short midway through by a broken right fibula and dislocated right ankle. “We have to lead (by) example for each other.”

While prior experience running an NFL team is not a prerequisite, it doesn't hurt the cases of Mike McCarthy, Vance Joseph or a couple of coaches who were freshly fired: John Harbaugh from Baltimore and Kevin Stefanski from Cleveland. Harbaugh figures to shoot to the top of the Giants' list after his abrupt dismissal by the Ravens on Tuesday.

Schoen did not know over the past eight weeks if Harbaugh, Stefanski, Atlanta's Raheem Morris or others would be available, so he spent time studying coordinators as part of a much longer process than he got after taking over as GM in January 2022, when he hired Daboll days later.

"Having this runway has really helped," Schoen said, “I feel really good about the information we’ve collected already. There’s some really good candidates on both sides of the ball, collegiately. We’re going to look everywhere.”

Offensive coordinators Klint Kubiak in Seattle and Kliff Kingsbury in Washington are among the options if the Giants look for someone known for working with QBs, such as Jacksonville found in Liam Coen for Trevor Lawrence and Chicago in Ben Johnson for Caleb Williams.

Intriguing defensive coordinators include Lou Anarumo in Indianapolis, Jeff Hafley in Green Bay and Chris Shula of the Los Angeles Rams.

Schoen cited Sean McDermott from his previous stop in Buffalo with Josh Allen and New England's Mike Vrabel with Drake Maye as defensive-minded coaches who have overseen quarterbacks becoming elite. But he has also said he wants the next coach to be able to lead the entire team, not just Dart, who might meet a candidate along the way but won't be asked for input on the hire.

Owners John Mara and Steve Tisch and their families will make the final call. Players offering their suggestions included edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux wanting “someone that pushes us” and tight end Theo Johnson a coach who can handle the pressure and get the most out of talent, while also relating to them as people.

“A leader: somebody that can lead men out to battle, somebody we want to go battle for and somebody that’s going to have your back when you’re out there on the field, somebody that’s going to uplift you when your down,” top receiver Malik Nabers said. “If we find someone that can do that, we’d be leaning to the right direction.”

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Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, left, and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, right, talk before an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

FILE - New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen reacts during Back Together Weekend at the team's NFL football training camp, July 27, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris talks to reporters after an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski walks on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it is scrapping the safety screening for two reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan after the plant's operator was found to have fabricated data about earthquake risks, in a setback to Japan's attempts to accelerate reactor restarts to boost nuclear energy use.

Chubu Electric Power Co. had applied for safety screening to resume operations at the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in 2014 and 2015. Two other reactors at the plant are being decommissioned, and a fifth is idle.

The plant, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Tokyo, is located on a coastal area known for potential risks from so-called Nankai Trough megaquakes.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it started an internal investigation in February after receiving a tip from a whistleblower that the utility had for years provided fabricated data that underestimated potential seismic risks.

The regulator suspended the screening for the reactors after it confirmed the falsification and the utility acknowledged the fabrication in mid-December, said Shinsuke Yamanaka, the watchdog's chair. The NRA is also considering inspecting the utility headquarters.

“Ensuring safety is the first and foremost responsibility for nuclear plant operators and (data fabrication) is an act of betrayal to their task and one that destroys nuclear safety," Yamanaka said.

The scandal surfaced Monday when Chubu Electric President Kingo Hayashi acknowledged that workers at the utility used inappropriate seismic data with an alleged intention to underestimate seismic risks and apologized. He pledged to establish an independent panel for investigation.

The screening, including data that had been approved earlier, would have to start from scratch or possibly be rejected entirely, Yamanaka said.

The move is a setback at a time Japan's government seeks to accelerate reactor restarts to cope with rising energy costs and pressure to reduce carbon emissions.

Public opinion in Japan remains divided due to lingering safety concerns after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns.

Of Japan's 57 commercial reactors, 13 are currently in operation, 20 are offline and 24 others are being decommissioned, according to NRA.

This aerial photo shows Hamaoka nuclear power plant, owned by the Cubu Electric Power Co., in Omaezaki, central Japan, March 26, 2025. (Minoru Iwasaki/Kyodo News via AP)