EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — John Harbaugh has done plenty of winning as a head coach in the NFL, including 12 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title.
The New York Giants for much of the past decade have done very little of it.
That is not stopping Harbaugh from dreaming big. Having taken over as coach of the Giants, he has plenty of power in shaping their future and a visible eagerness to turn the eight-time NFL champions back into a contender sooner than later.
“I wanted this job,” Harbaugh said Tuesday at his introductory news conference with the NFC East Division franchise. “I wanted this job and to be on the biggest stage in the biggest sport. I know the challenges, I understand the expectations, I know that the fans are hungry for a winner. We’re here with one mission, to become — to earn the right — to be called the world champions in New York. And that’s what we plan to do.”
After 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he faces a challenge in bringing success to a storied franchise that has four Super Bowl championships — the other four league titles are from before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 — but has gone 45-105-1 and not made it past the divisional round of the playoffs since the 2016 season.
As part of his arrangement to accept the gig, the 63-year-old reports directly to ownership rather than general manager Joe Schoen, so Harbaugh will get to mold the organization in his image around the core led by young quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“He’s going to be the most important cog in the wheel,” said Chris Mara, the longtime executive who led the coaching search along with brother John and co-owner Steve Tisch. “But in terms of final say, this is going to be a collaborative effort between ownership, general manager and coach.”
There are plenty of fresh success stories around the NFL of teams pairing a new coach with an established quarterback and winning right away. The Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots all made the playoffs this season following that recipe. In the case of the Patriots, they’re in the AFC championship game.
“That’s what we’re going to be chasing,” Harbaugh said. “It’s going to be about how we play. It’s going to be about us every single day, just becoming as good as we can be.”
The Giants went 4-13 this season, when they fired Brian Daboll after he started 2-8 in his fourth year at the helm. The upside for team ownership and management was a long runway to map out the options available, and the moment Harbaugh became available in early January, he immediately became their top candidate.
“I didn’t think he’d be available,” Chris Mara said, adding that Tom Coughlin — who coached the Giants to two Super Bowl titles — put him in touch with Harbaugh and urged a meeting. “But for us, it was a home run.”
Mara, Harbaugh and Schoen all downplayed the chain of command and tried to talk up just how strong the rapport already is between the new coach and the GM back for a fifth season. Harbaugh anticipates the working relationship being “phenomenally great,” though the coming weeks and months building out a staff, signing free agents and making important decisions in the draft will tell that tale.
“We need to work together, and we’re going to come to the final conclusion and it’s always going to be able what’s best for the New York Giants,” Schoen said. “I have no problem with that, and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Harbaugh figures his role will be similar to how he and executives Eric DeCosta and Ozzie Newsome operated with the Ravens: evaluating players, giving input and contributing to the vision of the organization. Harbaugh’s younger brother Jim, who just finished his second season coaching the Los Angeles Chargers after winning the national championship at Michigan, hyped up what it will be like in a new place.
“He said, ‘You’re going to be really excited to walk into that room for the first time with a different team’ — a team that you haven’t been around — and you start fresh from the beginning and kind of build it up the way you want to,” Harbaugh said. “I just can’t wait.”
Jack Harbaugh, in attendance for John’s big day, smiled the entire time because he saw how much his son was enjoying a fresh start.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him more excited and happier than he is right now,” Jack said. “It feels right. It does feel right.”