Todd Monken, Jim Leonhard could be John Harbaugh’s coordinators with Giants

The New York Giants came to an agreement with former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh late Wednesday night.

In doing so, the Giants immediately brought stability to a rudderless franchise and delivered true hope to the fanbase for the first time since the 2023 off-season. The veteran coach is lauded as a “culture builder” who eschews concentrating on either side of the ball in favor of overseeing the whole roster and leaving his offensive and defensive coordinators to run their units.

That, however, brings us to the question of who will run the offense and defense for the Giants. Let’s look at some of the possibilities.

Offensive coordinator

Defense has been the fanbase’s main pain point over the last year, but the development of Jaxson Dart is paramount to the Giants’ — and Harbaugh’s — long term success. That will make the offensive coordinator hire one of the most important moves of the off-season.

Todd Monken – Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator at Baltimore is the natural first option. In fact, the current belief is that biggest obstacle to Monken becoming the Giants’ offensive coordinator is the possibility that the Cleveland Browns could hire him to be their head coach.

Monken is a creative and experienced play-caller who has had success at both the collegiate and NFL levels. He called a pair of National Championship offenses for the Georgia Bulldogs in 2021 and 2022, and also helped develop Lamar Jackson into more of a Pro Style passer in 2023 and 2024 after Greg Roman’s read-option based offense grew stale. Monken runs what is generally termed a “spread offense”, but is an amalgamation of a wide range of concepts and philosophies from both college and the NFL.

Harbaugh fought for Monken to remain in Baltimore, which is believed to be one of the reasons the Ravens fired him. So, it makes sense Harbaugh would bring him to the Giants.

Mike Kafka – The Giants’ offensive coordinator and interim head coach from 2022 to 2025 is the best option to provide stability and continuity for Jaxson Dart. In addition to his relationship with Dart, nobody knows the Giants’ offensive personnel better than Kafka, which would allow him to hit the ground running. The Giants’ offense has consistently punched over its weight class with Kafka calling it, however he’s never had the opportunity to build an offense from the ground up.

Kafka has already drawn interest from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions for their offensive coordinator positions.

Mike McDaniel – This is the big name pie in the sky hope. McDaniel is in high demand as an offensive coordinator and also getting interviews for open head coaching positions. That said, he’s one of the NFL’s best offensive minds, even if the Dolphins’ offense has had to overcome a plethora of injuries. McDaniel’s use of speed and motion combined with the “New West Coast” concepts popularized by Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay makes his offense one of the most challenging to defend in the NFL.

Davis Webb – The Giants’ 2017 third-round pick (and Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach) is already a hot commodity on the coaching circuit. He’s pretty widely regarded as on the fast track to a head coaching role, as evidenced by the fact that he’s received several head coaching interviews this cycle. It might be a bit early for Webb to become a head coach and he might need to prove that he can build an offense and run a unit before he gets the big office. That said, Daniel Jones had his best season as a Giant with Webb as a “coach in the locker room” and Bo Nix has made the playoffs twice under his tutelage. Webb also has the distinction of being the only Giant to throw a touchdown to Kenny Golladay.

Nate Scheelhaase – The Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator is a name most Giants fans won’t be familiar with. However, he too is hot name on the coaching circuit and has the pedigree of being a “Sean McVay” coach. Scheelhaase is something of an unknown, so he could benefit from being able to build and run his own offense. Like Webb and Kafka, Stepping out of the shadow of an offensive genius could help Scheelhaase establish himself in the eyes of the NFL.

Defensive coordinator

As mentioned above, defense was the Giants’ biggest pain point last year. The team invested a huge amount of resources in the defensive side of the ball last year, but got little return for their investments. While the offensive coordinator will be instrumental in maximizing Jaxson Dart’s development and the Giants’ long-term success, this hire will be crucial for success this year.

Jim Leonhard – Leonhard is a former undrafted free agent defensive back who entered the NFL back in 2005 and did spend a year under Harbaugh in 2008 (Harbaugh’s first year as a head coach). He became a coach in college ranks in 2016 as the defensive backs coach for Wisconsin. He quickly became the Badgers’ defensive coordinator in 2017 and was their interim head coach in 2022. Leonhard made the jump to the NFL in 2024, when he was hired as the Denver Bronco’s defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator. He added the title of “Assistant Head Coach” in 2025 and was quickly linked to the Giants after Harbaugh agreed to become the Giants’ head coach.

Charlie Bullen – Bullen didn’t get much time as the Giants’ interim defensive coordinator, and much of his work was spent fixing bad habits that took hold under Shane Bowen and recommitting the Giants to sound fundamentals. Eventually his efforts began to pay off and we saw the team play faster and much more sound football. At the same time, he was much more aggressive than Bowen and many of the Giants’ disappointing players began to play up to expectations. He’s received requests to interview for defensive coordinator jobs, and is viewed favorably by the NFL.

Antonio Pierce – Pierce has never been a defensive coordinator at the NFL level, though he was the defensive coordinator under Herm Edwards at Arizona State. That said, the Giants had him in for a head coaching interview and there seems to be renewed interest in AP around the NFL. Pierce was the coach on the field in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and understands the culture of what an aggressive and winning Giants defense looks like.

Drew Wilkins – Wink Martindale has been floated as a possible option, but we don’t know how many bridges he burned after the 2023 season or what Wink’s relationship with John Harbaugh is like. However, Wilkins has a long relationship with Harbaugh and is a familiar face for the Giants. Wilkins was the outside linebackers coach under Martindale and coached from 2011 to 2021 under Harbaugh in Baltimore. He was also Kayvon Thibodeaux’s coach when he had an 11.5-sack season in 2023. Now Wilkins is a coach under Chris Shula with the Los Angeles Rams, and he brings a very intriguing mix of experience and relationships.

Anthony Weaver – Anthony Weaver has already gotten some interest around the NFL, most notably as a head coaching candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Weaver was a former second-round pick as a defensive end and has been a coach in the NFL since 2012 when he was hired as an assistant defensive line coach under Rex Ryan for the New York Jets. Weaver spent three years (2021 through 2023) under John Harbaugh as a defensive line coach, run game coordinator, and assistant head coach.

Jonathan Gannon – Gannon has slipped below the radar after being fired by Arizona Cardinals. But while he wasn’t a good head coach, he is a brilliant defensive mind. Gannon’s defense helped carry the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2022 and he created one of the NFL’s most unique defenses in Arizona after being hired as their head coach in 2023. Gannon is nominally a disciple of Vic Fangio, but evolved and iterated on the scheme with Arizona’s personnel. He could be an interesting option given the Giants’ versatile defensive talent.