John Harbaugh can turn the Giants into playoff contenders overnight

The Giants might have won the NFL coaching carousel with the very first hire of the year. Super Bowl-winning head coach John Harbaugh will take over in New York, bringing his history of sustained success to East Rutherford. It’s cause for justified excitement, because if there’s one thing Harbaugh can do, it’s win in the regular season.

That might sound like a backhanded compliment towards Harbaugh’s recent postseason failings, but it’s appreciation for a coach who brings to the table exactly what the Giants need, and that’s consistency. In Harbaugh’s 18 seasons in Baltimore the Ravens had a sub-.500 record only three times, always coming about due to significant injuries. Meanwhile over the same 18 year span the Giants have only been over .500 four times. It’s one of the most pronounced coaching flips we’re going to see this offseason, and the blueprint is already in place — because John Harbaugh has done this before.

It’s been such a long time since the Ravens were bad that it’s easy to forget about their struggles after winning the Super Bowl with Brian Billick in 2000. The franchise was consistently up and down, lacking a steadying force, desperately trying to turn Kyle Boller into a legitimate quarterback, before realizing he had a cannon for an arm, and the accuracy of one, too.

When Harbaugh took over the Ravens they were 5-11. There was talent to be sure, but it was littered throughout the roster without much cohesiveness. Willis McGahee was a decent running back, Derek Mason was a serviceable wide receiver aging out, and Todd Heap was effective, albeit at a time his career was winding down. Defensively is where the team was stacked, boasting Hall of Fame-caliber player everywhere: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata — just monsters.

The offense was changed from a West Coast to an Air Coryell. The Ravens drafted Joe Flacco, took touches away from McGahee and gave them to fullback Le’Ron McClain who was a stout interior runner. That first year offense wasn’t pretty, but the defense was godly.

While the Giants are a year removed from drafting Jaxson Dart, the principles are there. What Harbaugh asked of Flacco and the offense in his first season was to generate explosive plays and throw deep. The rookie Flacco had an 8.5 averaged depth of target (ADOT), and the team punctuated this explosive deep throwing with box-punishing interior rushing.

Any of this sound familiar? It should, because it’s precisely where the Giants can succeed on offense in 2026. Dart had an ADOT of 8.1 in his rookie season, and Cam Skattebo returning from injury will fill the interior rushing role. Malik Nabers can be a plus version of Mason, who was 34 when Harbaugh arrived in Baltimore.

Naturally the defense won’t be as polished, because nobody will inherit defensive talent like Harbaugh did when he took over the 2008 Ravens — but they can be a poor man’s version. Brian Burns can thrive in the 3-4 in a role similar to Suggs, while Dexter Lawrence can play like Haloti Ngata. The point is that there are pieces here to build off, and it’s what makes the Harbaugh hiring so exciting.

John Harbaugh flipped the Ravens’ record in his first season as coach, taking them from 5-11 to 11-5. In his first season with the Giants, that will be more difficult in a division like the NFC East — but far from impossible. If there’s one thing we saw from the Giants it was a lot of promise, but without much delivery. Harbaugh is a coach who can deliver.

After years of searching for a head coach with an iota of Tom Coughlin’s consistency, the Giants have their guy. It’s okay to get hyped for this, because its going to be fun.