CALL OF THE WILD
Kafka on borrowed time with Giants given chaotic lifestyle of NFL OCs
SOMETIMES they get promoted to a head coaching gig with another team. Far more often, though, they get hired, get linked (or saddled) with a problematic quarterback and the clock starts ticking, immediately, on their untimely demise. And then they are gone.
They are the endangered species known as NFL offensive coordinators. The Giants still have theirs and, at the moment, Mike Kafka appears set to return for a third year on Brian Daboll’s staff. If that actually happens, it will represent stability in the most unstable of environs.
Pairing “stability’’ and most anything that went down with the Giants’ offense in 2023 is risky business, but this is where we are. Kafka is headed to a second interview with the Seahawks for the head coach vacancy created when seemingly ageless Pete Carroll was told to step aside after 14 years running the show and sprinting the sideline in Seattle. Kafka for public consumption thus far in his two years with the Giants was as bland as overcooked penne. Clearly, that was a choice made by Kafka, who is only 36 and intent on deferring to Daboll in all matters that concern just about everything. Behind closed doors, he works well with players, is smart and prepared and at a young age is already wellversed in walking into rooms for head coach interviews, having met with four different teams last year and being requested this cycle by the Titans and Seahawks.
If Kafka is the choice in Seattle — Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn feels like the favorite — more power to him, as he will have been able to explain away leading an offense that finished the 2023 season ranked 30th in scoring and 29th in total yards. Kafka, well-schooled for five years under Andy Reid in Kansas City, came to the Giants knowing he would largely be running Daboll’s offense. Daboll had no previous experience working with Kafka and yet handed the play-calling duties to the novice play-caller. That was Daboll’s most significant decision as he embarked on his head coaching tenure. If he takes back those play-calling duties, it will represent a major refocus that could hamper his ability to oversee the entire operation and hasten Kafka’s interest in moving on.
This is the way of the NFL world. In Major League Baseball, the knee-jerk move when a manager is feeling the heat is to fire the pitching coach. In the NFL, it’s jettisoning the offensive coordinator. Since 2022, when Kafka arrived to the Giants, every team in the league has changed its offensive coordinator at least once. That means 32 up, 32 down. Sure, sometimes these comings and goings are the result of promotions — Daboll from the Bills to the Giants, most recently Dave Canales from the Buccaneers to the Panthers and Brian Callahan from the Bengals to the Titans. Sometimes the head coach gets canned, leaving his entire staff looking for new jobs. Most often, the head coach feels pressure to make a move and the offensive coordinator is the fall-guy.
It happens, even with winning teams and/or top-tier quarterbacks. The Bills had Josh Allen but dismissed Ken Dorsey in favor of Joe Brady. The Ravens had Lamar Jackson and moved Greg Roman out and brought Todd Monken in. The Chargers had Justin Herbert but fired Joe Lombardi in favor of Kellen Moore. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni could not do anything about Shane Steichen leaving to become the Colts’ head coach. But Sirianni’s promotion of quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator to continue the development of well-regarded Jalen Hurts was a one-year trial that went badly and now Sirianni is in the market for a new OC.
When the Giants hired Kafka, he became the sixth first-time offensive coordinator in the NFC. Eight teams will have new permanent head coaches in 2024 and that means eight new staffs to assemble. Daboll, despite the sequel to his 9-7-1 (and one playoff victory) debut season resulting in a 6-11 dud, was in no danger of being replaced. There was certainly groundswell to alter his staff. He has already found a new special teams coordinator, and the big one to reel in is the Giants’ next defensive coordinator following the ugliness of Wink Martindale’s departure.
Up next for Kafka is an interesting assignment: head coach of the West squad in the upcoming EastWest Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas. Kafka will get a small brush with life in the big chair, albeit in an offseason college allstar game. Any inside information he cultivates about the NFL draft prospects he works with could help the Giants’ moving forward. If
Kafka is still with the Giants, of course.