When the Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, the team named a former Chiefs assistant as an interim replacement.
Mike Kafka was hired as the Giants’ offensive coordinator by Daboll in 2022 after spending two seasons with the Chiefs as quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. Kafka will coach the Giants the rest of the season.
Shortly after Daboll was let go, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared a list of potential replacements in New York. That included a current Chiefs coach.
“Among the names I would keep an eye on as the Giants let’s say potentially look to regain some of the greatness of the Tom Coughlin era, I would say Steve Spagnuolo and Antonio Pierce, two head coach candidates,” Rapoport said.
Coughlin hired Spagnuolo as the Giants’ defensive coordinator in 2007, and he helped New York win a Super Bowl championship. After two seasons with the Giants, Spagnuolo was hired as the St. Louis Rams head coach.
Following three seasons with the Rams, Spagnuolo was with the Saints and Ravens before re-joining the Giants in 2015. He was the Giants interim head coach for four games in 2017.
In 2019, Chiefs coach Andy Reid hired Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator, and he’s helped Kansas City win three Super Bowl championships.
The Athletic, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated have all listed Spagnuolo as a candidate to be the next Giants coach.
When asked Thursday about being linked to the Giants job by Pete Sweeney, The Star’s Chiefs Insider, Spagnuolo gave a short response.
“Yeah, we’re good. We’re playing Denver,” Spagnuolo said as reporters laughed. “That make sense? Thanks guys.”