Giants player claims Brian Daboll threatened Mike Kafka over taking his job away: Report

The Giants fired Brian Daboll on Monday, but the drama around his tenure in New York is not dying down anytime soon. According to a new report from ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, an anonymous Giants player stated that Daboll threatened to strip offensive coordinator Mike Kafka of his play-calling duties.

Daboll's outburst reportedly came moments after tight end Theo Johnson failed to catch a pass. This prompted the then-Giants HC to “explode” on the sidelines and warn Kafka he’d take away his responsibilities. This is one of the latest chapters in what players have described as a toxic and inconsistent coaching environment.

Tensions between Daboll and Kafka had long been a matter of public record. The two had some heated moments in 2023, too. Back then, Daboll also frequently took back play-calling only from Kafka to return it later.

This offseason, Kafka was promoted to assistant head coach, effectively blocking him from making a lateral move elsewhere. After Daboll’s firing on Monday, Kafka was named interim head coach.

---

Brian Daboll had controversial tenure with New York Giants

The Brian Daboll era in New York is officially over. However, Giants owner John Mara had to step in from time to time when the temperature rose, with Daboll calling the shots. Daboll finished his tenure with a 20-40-1 record (.336), spiraling to 11-33 (.250) over his final two and a half seasons.

Sources told ESPN that Daboll’s leadership lacked consistency and that players felt the team was too consumed with outside narratives. The front office believed the roster had more talent than the results showed, and that disconnect became impossible to ignore.

However, behind the scenes, Mara’s patience had evaporated. Daboll’s emotional outbursts, from flipping a tablet at Daniel Jones to publicly berating Wink Martindale, grew so disruptive that Schoen reportedly listened in on headsets during games to monitor communication.

Daboll’s sideline meltdowns, controversial challenge decisions, and even the $100,000 fine for illegally entering the medical tent only made matters worse. Mara ultimately had to address Daboll’s behavior in a public statement, signaling that the relationship had reached its end.