The development is not just for college athletes who have been invited to participate in upcoming events in Mobile, Alabama and Frisco, Texas. What happens with several members of Brian Daboll's coaching staff could go some way to shaping how Daboll works with the Giants in 2024.
A number of changes are already in place, and Daboll is in the early stages of filling seven vacancies on his staff. Four of those were due to layoffs, two assistants left the Giants for other college positions, and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale parted ways with the organization in an ugly exit.
The two remaining top-tier assistants on Daboll's staff, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, will soon be busy fulfilling their responsibilities, giving us a glimpse of what both want next. You should be able to do it. Kafka will serve as head coach for the West team in the East-West Shrine Bowl game on February 1st at the Cowboys' practice facility, Ford Center at the Star, in Frisco, Texas.
Tierney will serve as the national team's offensive coordinator at the Senior Bowl, which will be held on February 3 at Hancock-Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama. Mike Adams, assistant special teams coach for the Giants, will serve as special teams coordinator for the U.S. national team.
These assignments will give Kafka, Tierney and Adams behind-the-scenes access during practices and meetings to many of the players who will ultimately join the Giants' prospect board ahead of the 2024 draft. . Extra information is never a bad thing.
It will also allow Kafka to run the team and allow Tierney and Adams to expand beyond their current roles as position coaches.
“This is an opportunity to further develop, evaluate and introduce assistant coaches who have the potential to become the next generation of head coaches,” said Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations. He talked about the Shrine Bowl coaching opportunity.
This is the second year that the Senior Bowl has introduced a “Coach Up” format, allowing coaches to take on elevated roles. Titans assistant head coach and defensive line coach Terrell Williams will be the head coach of the USA team, while Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will coach the national team.
This is a great symmetry for Kafka. A former Northwestern University quarterback, he was named East-West Shrine Game MVP in 2010 and was subsequently a fourth-round pick of the Eagles. Kafka, 36, turned heads last season in his first year as an NFL coordinator, with four teams interviewing him for head coaching positions. The Giants' offense took a nosedive in 2023, but that didn't stop two teams with head coaching vacancies, the Seahawks and Titans, from talking to Kafka about a new addition.
The Giants have no intention of moving away from Kafka. If he gets the head coaching job, he will obviously step down. It will be interesting to see what happens if there is outside interest in hiring Kafka as offensive coordinator and Kafka is drawn to that interest. There was a period last season when Daboll was more involved in the offense and play-calling, but Daboll did not confirm that Kafka would continue to call plays in 2024.
“We'll be talking here over the next few months, deciding what direction we're going to go in and making a full evaluation as we make decisions,” Daboll said after the Giants finished a 6-11 season. Told.
Kafka may find an opportunity with another team beneficial to his coaching career. Or he could go back and wait and see what Davoll has in store.
Tierney, 37, has never been a play-caller, but everyone has to start somewhere, and if Kafka leaves, he could be in line to be promoted to offensive coordinator. Daboll and Tierney have a history of playing together, first working together at Alabama in 2017, when Daboll was the offensive coordinator and Tierney was an offensive assistant on Nick Saban's staff.
Daboll brought Tierney to Buffalo in 2018 and then to the Giants in 2022. Tierney's attention to detail put together the best season of Daniel Jones' career, and he signed Jones to a four-year contract worth $160 million. Last season, Tierney helped improve the form of undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito, and DeVito responded by throwing five touchdown passes and winning three games without an interception.
