Jordan RaananFeb 13, 2026, 06:00 AM ET
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- John Harbaugh didn't hide how big a factor the New York Giants having Jaxson Dart at quarterback was for him to take the job. It was the ultimate dangling football.
"That's kind of a big deal," Harbaugh said at his introductory news conference.
With Dart and Harbaugh on board, the next step was making sure the young quarterback would be setup for success. After Plan A was foiled because Todd Monken was hired to be the Cleveland Browns' head coach, Harbaugh went the next-best route by surrounding Dart with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Harbaugh and the Giants are hiring four former offensive coordinators -- two of whom have been NFL head coaches -- in offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and quarterbacks coach and pass-game coordinator Brian Callahan, for their offensive staff, multiple team sources told ESPN. Senior offensive assistant Greg Roman and tight ends coach Tim Kelly have also been coordinators and offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren is a former college head coach at Rice University. Newly hired running backs coach Willy Taggart was also a longtime college head coach.
Nagy, Roman and Callahan are specifically there to aid Dart. It's an almost overqualified trio that in the past few years has worked with star quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. And it provides quite the windfall of available cheat codes for Dart.
Nagy spent the past three years working under his mentor Andy Reid as the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator. He was the head coach of the Chicago Bears prior to returning to Kansas City, where he went after starting his NFL career under Reid in Philadelphia.
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"I can't wait to get the chance to play for him," Dart told Forbes during Super Bowl week. "Just so many great things that are said about him and his coaching style and the work that he puts in, the passion that he has for the game."
Dart, fresh off a rookie season with 24 total touchdowns and seven turnovers, talked on multiple occasions with Mahomes about working with Nagy, according to multiple sources close to the QB. He came away impressed. He also told reporters last week that he spoke with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce about his former coordinator and received rave reviews.
A big selling point for Dart is that Nagy brings a quarterbacks perspective. Nagy played professionally and worked his way up the coaching ladder as a quarterbacks coach. He speaks Dart's language, and should bring similarities to last year's Giants offensive coordinator and playcaller Mike Kafka, who started his professional coaching career under Reid. This should limit the change in scheme, terminology and play style, to some degree.
Meanwhile, Harbaugh and the Giants liked that Nagy has schematic flexibility. Harbaugh said in a recent radio interview he was looking for an offensive coordinator who wasn't married to a specific scheme. Nagy's offense has been known to use everything from a modernized West Coast style to spread concepts that lean on misdirection, run-pass options and tempo. That fits Dart's strengths.
It also probably didn't hurt that Nagy had a stamp of approval from Harbaugh's mentor, Reid.
"He deserves to have a head coaching job," Reid said recently. "If not, it gives him an opportunity to go out and do his thing. I mean, somebody is missing a gem here. That's how I feel. I would love to see him get picked up and going."
Nagy, much like Roman and Callahan, comes with some warts. Or at the very least minor concerns. Nagy has something to prove.
He didn't call plays in Kansas City and the Chiefs offense became significantly less explosive over the past three seasons. Kansas City tied for second in the NFL averaging 8.1 yards per pass attempt in 2022 before Nagy returned. It was bottom half of the league each of the past three years under Nagy, averaging 6.8 yards per pass attempt.
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"Being a former head coach helping Coach Reid out, anytime you look at what went on this year as an offense, you're frustrated, disappointed because it's your job as a coordinator to make sure everything is done the right way and that you succeed and win. That didn't happen," Nagy said late last season. "That drives me, though. That motivates me. I don't run from that. I've been through a lot in my life in coaching."
Nagy had a winning record as a head coach (34-31) but his offenses while playcalling in Chicago with Mitchell Trubisky were never better than 21st in yards per game. So his effectiveness as a playcaller remains questionable.
Multiple NFL assistants still told ESPN they were "high" on Nagy as an offensive coach. They thought his passing schemes were solid and respected his X's and O's. Adding Roman, who has a lengthy track record of designing successful run games, was considered a strong complement.
Roman's offenses have boasted a top-10 running game in 10 of the past 12 seasons. His role with the Giants is expected to include being heavily involved in the team's run game with Dart, Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. at his disposal.
Nagy may be the offensive coordinator, but Roman is the elder statesman in the room and gives Harbaugh some familiarity, even though they split in Baltimore and Roman was fired by his brother, Jim, earlier this year with the Los Angeles Chargers. Roman worked with John Harbaugh from 2017 to 2022 in Baltimore, which included four years as his offensive coordinator developing a younger Jackson.
Now they will handle the development of Dart, a promising young talent who Harbaugh admitted made the Giants desirable during his recruitment process. Callahan will be a key figure. He spent two years as Matthew Stafford's quarterbacks coach in Detroit, a year with Derek Carr in Las Vegas and four years as the non-playcalling offensive coordinator for Burrow in Cincinnati prior to his time in Tennessee.