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Julian Edelman knows the Giants “don’t really make crazy hires,” but tossed in a familiar dark horse anyway when speculating who could replace the fired Brian Daboll as head coach.
During Monday’s installment of his “Games with Names” podcast, the former Patriots receiver entertained the idea of his former coach, eight-time Super Bowl winner and current UNC football coach Bill Belichick, holding the position at an organization he’s long revered.
“There’s a team down in Chapel Hill that’s playing a little better. What if the Giants brought in Bill Belichick?” Edelman said.
“… He f–king loves them, we all know that. Guy shed a single tear every time we played there. The only time I saw him get happy [is] when he talked about LT [Giants Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor]. Just joking.”
Belichick — whose first year with North Carolina has been a rollercoaster of personal and professional highs and lows — first joined the Giants in 1979 as a defensive assistant and special teams coach under Ray Perkins. He was elevated to defensive coordinator in 1985, two years after Bill Parcells succeeded Perkins.
He won a pair of Super Bowls with the Giants before joining the Browns in 1991 for his first head coaching stint.
Nine years later, Belichick became head coach of the Patriots, a position he held for 24 seasons — twice battling (and losing to) the Giants in the Super Bowl.
Edelman, who played 12 seasons under Belichick, cautioned that while “the Giants really don’t make crazy hires like that,” the in-season shakeup could signal “they’re changing their way a little.”
“I don’t know,” Edelman said. “Who knows? I think they’re gonna want to probably try to get someone that’s sexy for Jaxson Dart.”
Dart has been one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise frustrating Giants season.
The 25th overall pick in this year’s draft — whom Daboll championed — Dart has exceeded expectations across seven starts, but has also put his body in the line of fire, something that caught up to him Sunday when he exited the 24-20 loss in Chicago with a concussion.
Daboll, whose Giants team dropped to 2-8 Sunday after another fourth-quarter collapse, was relieved of his duties Monday after nearly four seasons at the helm.
He owned a 20-40-1 record and one playoff win across three-and-a-half seasons.
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a joint statement. “We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.”
Mike Kafka, the team’s offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, was named interim head coach.
General manager Joe Schoen will remain in his position and is tasked with spearheading the next coaching search.
It remains to be seen if Belichick cracks a potential candidates list.
His Tar Heels improved to 4-5 on Saturday with back-to-back wins over Syracuse and Stanford.
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