The New York Giants are my favorite NFL franchise, as anyone who knows me, or follows this blog, will likely already know.
This is not new. I was introduced to the NFL in the 1981 season. Mostly, I think, it was my grandfather who got me into it. The funny thing is, while he was not the most passionate fan, his team was the Jets. That was the case with my brother, as well. For me, there was a strong attraction to the Giants, and right away. At that age, there might not have been much more to this preference than I simply liked their uniforms better, admittedly. While I did not hate the Jets (in fact, they still remain my second favorite team), Big Blue remained my favorite NFL franchise ever since that 1981 season.
So of course I hope for the best with them. And like many Giants fans, my guess is that the best head coaching option for them (since they are one of the nine NFL franchises presently without an NFL head coach) would likely be John Harbaugh. After all, Harbaugh is a very experienced NFL head coach. He has a Super Bowl championship under his belt. Also, the Ravens never seemed to go long without being highly competitive, including not just division titles and/or qualifying for the playoffs, but often winning playoff games, as well.
Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach just a few days ago, would be a good option as well. He stepped down the next morning following the Steelers early playoff exit against the Houston Texans. Tomlin never coached the Steelers to a losing season, and had the longest existing tenure of any NFL head coach up until that Texans game. However, he is still under contract, and so he likely will not be available. So Harbaugh still seems the best, most realistic option.
As far as the Steelers are concerned, it seems bizarre to me. Pittsburgh is the one franchise that rarely ever seems to change. Since I was a fan of the NFL back in 1981, they are probably the NFL franchise that has seen the fewest changes. Back then, Chuck Noll had been the head coach dating back to 1969. There was still the mystique about the Steelers, who had just enjoyed their dynasty days, with four Super Bowl titles in six years in the late seventies. Noll would stay on as coach until 1991, then Bill Cowher would take over. He was coach from 1992 until 2006, when Tomlin took over.
See what I mean about the Steelers being the franchise which has seen the least change since I became a fan, all of those years ago? Tomlin was only the third head coach of the Steelers since then. Hell, they hardly even changed their uniforms, while almost every other team has seen more changes, both with head coaches and uniforms. In fact, I cannot think of any franchise in the NFL which has seen fewer changes in either, with maybe the exception of the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, and the Raiders (Oakland or Los Angeles or Oakland again or now Las Vegas, or wherever they will be based out of five minutes from now). Those teams really have not altered their uniforms in any major kind of a way for any serious length of time. As for head coaches, the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins used to be pillars of stability like that as well, but that was a long time ago. Those franchises have seen a lot of head coaching changes in recent years and decades, as well.
It will be interesting to see how the head coaching vacancies for each are filled. Again, it seems like Harbaugh is generally viewed as the most appealing option. Supposedly, he may even take the position at Green Bay, even though they still (for now) have a head coach, Matt LaFleur. If they do let go of him, that would be ten franchises - nearly one-third of the league's franchises - with head coaching vacancies and changes this offseason.
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