Reports came out late Thursday that the Giants plan to hire Kansas City quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Mike Kafka to be their new offensive coordinator, ending a search that initially saw Bills QB coach Ken Dorsey reported as the “ideal” candidate and ended with Kafka beating out other reported finalists Pep Hamilton and Chad O’Shea.
The question now is whether Kafka or Brian Daboll will call plays – and on Monday, when Daboll was officially introduced as the new Giants head coach, GM Joe Schoen spoke, and was asked about that subject.
“I’m not going to rule out if he is or he isn’t,” Schoen said of Daboll calling plays, noting the lack of an OC at the time. “Ideally, he doesn't. I would prefer he manages the game. But, again, as we're going to wait and see how that plays out. Ideally, the offensive coordinator calls the plays, but, again, I'm not going to say that's set in stone because we're going to let Brian make that decision.”
Kafka has never called plays, even as passing game coordinator, as that duty in KC is primarily held by Andy Reid, with input from offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. That, however, is something Schoen seemed to be understanding of when responding to a second question about play-calling – specifically about Dorsey not having done so in Buffalo.
“I think, again, it goes back to what Brian said, his ability to develop his staff. You're learning from Brian Daboll, who's had a lot of success and been around the league and coached different types of players,” Schoen said. “If I'm an offensive coordinator and I can learn from Brian Daboll, I'd be really excited, but I think that's what makes Brian so good, his ability to develop his coaches young or old if they've called plays or not. He's already talked to me about his process and what he's going to put them through when they get here. It's got to be a fit with what we want to do as an organization. Personality-wise, it's got to be a fit. That's going to be very important for us. Then, obviously, the football acumen.”
The Giants, in essence, were looking for the best fit for the team, regardless of acumen – the same as Schoen said they did when their head coaching search led to Daboll.
“I was looking for the best head football coach. The guys that had previous head coaching experience – Dan Quinn, Leslie Frazier, and Brian Flores – were all previously coaches on the defensive side of the ball and I was okay with that because all three of those guys are outstanding football coaches,” Schoen said. “I wouldn't be surprised if even Lou Anarumo or Patrick Graham will become head coaches, that wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”
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