SAN JOSE, Calif. — John Harbaugh certainly has a type when it comes to his offensive coordinator.
He hires guys with experience, a proven track record as a play-caller and, most often, someone who had been an NFL head coach.
That trend developed through 18 years with the Ravens and continued on Tuesday with a key hire for Harbaugh for his first Giants’ coaching staff. He decided on Matt Nagy, The Post confirmed, entrusting Nagy to run the offense and continue the development of quarterback Jaxson Dart entering his second season.
Harbaugh now has all three of his coordinators, as he previously hired Dennard Wilson to run the defense and brought Chris Horton from Baltimore to run the special teams. With Nagy on board, the other key spots on the offensive staff — quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach — can be addressed.
Nagy, 47, was a finalist for the Titans head coach position during his cycle, a job that went to former Jets head coach Robert Saleh. Nagy’s name was not prominent in the Giants’ search. He was with the Chiefs the past four years, the last three as offensive coordinator — a non-playing calling role working for Andy Reid. Nagy’s contract expired and Reid brought back Eric Bieniemy to Kansas City as offensive coordinator. The Chiefs’ offense regressed the past two seasons, as age (tight end Travis Kelce), and injuries to Patrick Mahomes led to a downturn.
Harbaugh has never before worked with Nagy but they have a shared background as part of the Andy Reid coaching tree. Harbaugh’s last year with the Eagles was 2007 and Nagy arrived in Philadelphia in 2008.
Matt Nagy (c.) with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15). Getty Images
Nagy has deep ties to Reid. He rose to prominence in his first stint with the Chiefs (2013-17) and that vaulted his profile and landed him the Bears’ head coach job. He was an instant hit. The Bears went 12-4 to win the NFC North, with Nagy turning second-year Mitchell Trubisky into a winning quarterback. Nagy was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year. Harbaugh in 2019 gained that honor for the first and only time in his 18 years with the Ravens.
Sustained success with Trubisky was not possible. The Bears went 8-8 in 2019, made the playoffs at 8-8 in 2020 and Nagy was fired after the Bears went 6-11 in 2021. Then he returned to the Chiefs and won two Super Bowls as offensive coordinator.
With the Bears, Nagy also called the plays on offense. He gave up that responsibility for a time in 2020 but returned to his play-caller role in 2021.
Go behind the scenes with Big Blue
Sign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
This hiring is true to Harbaugh’s history. In Baltimore, he hired five offensive coordinators that arrived with NFL head coaching experience: Cam Cameron, Jim Caldwell, Gary Kubiak, Marc Trestman and Marty Mornhinweg. He also hired Todd Monken, who had been a college head coach at Southern Mississippi.
Harbaugh wanted Monken to accompany him to the Giants but Monken was hired, in a surprise, as the Browns’ head coach.
Nagy was a college quarterback at Delaware. He is a proponent of the West Coast offense and prefers his quarterbacks to be mobile and move in the pocket, which should fit well with Dart’s skillset. Harbaugh spoke with Kliff Kingsbury, Brian Callahan – both former NFL head coaches – and also Jim Bob Cooter, Shane Day, Robert Prince, Davis Webb and Alex Tanney for the offensive coordinator role before landing on Nagy.