When it comes to identifying potential head-coaching candidates, few teams explore what could be a very viable avenue for finding the right guy: Making a deal for a head coach who’s currently coaching another team.
It rarely happens. When the mere possibility is mentioned (e.g., when we floated the idea of the Bears pursuing 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan last year), many lose their minds.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Giants haven’t ruled out this approach in their effort to find a new coach. While it’s too early to know whether it will be a viable option, it’s something (we’re told) that the Giants certainly would entertain.
Here’s how it would work, in theory. The Giants would contact the team that employs the targeted coach. If the team is interested in talking, a deal could be reached on the compensation that would be given to the current team, if the coach eventually makes the jump. At that point, the Giants would have permission to contact the coach in an effort to determine whether he’s interested, and what he’d be paid by the Giants.
As a practical matter, the Giants would work the back channels to find out whether the coach is interested, before pulling the pin on the grenade. (Yes, it’s tampering. Yes, it happens. And, yes, it would be foolish for the Giants to cold call a team about possibly acquiring a coach without knowing he’d want to coach the Giants.)
It’s not a trade in the classic sense, because the coach controls the situation. If he doesn’t want to make the move, the move can’t happen.
Last year, the notion of the Bears making a play for Shanahan flowed from the reality that, in early 2014, the Browns had a deal in place with the 49ers for Jim Harbaugh, who ultimately decided not to take the Cleveland job. It also came from the basic fact that it is a viable, albeit underused, pathway for hiring a head coach.
Beyond the possibility of trading (sort of) for a current coach, the Giants plan to focus on supporting interim coach Mike Kafka. In time, the Giants will look at several candidates including current coordinators (of all three types), former head coaches, college coaches, Kafka, and current head coaches who may be fired at the end of the season or sooner.
Kafka can’t be ruled out. Regardless of wins and losses, his work with quarterback Jaxson Dart can’t be overlooked. And the plan for turning Dart into a franchise quarterback will be the most important consideration for the Giants franchise.
