{"id":665755,"date":"2026-01-09T06:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T06:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665755\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T06:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T06:35:20","slug":"how-about-a-vance-joseph-davis-webb-tandem-as-ny-giants-head-coach-oc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665755\/","title":{"rendered":"How about a Vance Joseph-Davis Webb tandem as NY Giants head coach-OC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski are the clear front-runners in a New York Giants\u2019 head coaching search that is skewing heavily toward experienced candidates. The Giants, though, have serious competition from a number of teams for both decorated coaches.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh, seeking to decompress and probably study his options, reportedly will not take any interviews until next week. Stefanski interviewed with the Giants Tuesday night and Wednesday.<\/p>\n

What if both candidates spurn the Giants for what they perceive to be better opportunities? Or, if the Giants somehow decide that neither Harbaugh nor Stefanski is right for them?<\/p>\n

Where do the Giants turn then?<\/p>\n

The remaining list of experienced candidates thus far connected to the Giants includes Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, former Buccaneers and Falcons coach Raheem Morris, and former Raiders coach and Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce.<\/p>\n

Vance Joseph as a fallback option?<\/p>\n

Among the various retread candidates the Giants could turn to if they somehow fail to land either Harbaugh or Stefanski, Joseph does not have the best record as a head coach. An argument can be made, though, that the 53-year-old Joseph might be the best fit for the Giants.<\/p>\n

Joseph is expected to interview virtually with the Giants on Thursday. That is one of five virtual interviews he will conduct this week.<\/p>\n

Zac Stevens, Broncos beat writer for TheDNVR.com<\/a>, is not surprised by the interest in Joseph. He said players in Denver constantly talk about \u201chow good of a leader\u201d Joseph is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t really talk about just how good of a defensive mind is. It\u2019s more of a leader. And that\u2019s why, with the seven openings that are that are out there for head coach right now, five of those teams have already requested to interview or interviewed Vance right now is because he is one of the hottest candidates out there,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cNot because of what he does for the defense necessarily, but because of the leader he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens said \u201cthere\u2019s no doubt\u201d that Joseph can extend the respect he has from Denver defensive players across an entire locker room and organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe respect that those defensive guys have for him uh is absolutely tremendous,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve been around guys where they\u2019re very honest about a coordinator not being as good of a leader and they are all on the exact same page and I believe that can lead to an offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens and I discussed the lack of accountability around the Giants the past couple of seasons, and players\u2019 desire for a \u201cTom Coughlin-esque<\/a>\u201d leader.<\/p>\n

It was interesting, then, to hear Stevens talk about why then-Denver general manager John Elway hired Joseph to coach the team in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he was looking for was a leader of men,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThat\u2019s the phrase that he used during the coaching search. And then once they hired Vance Joseph was that term, leader of men, leader of men. And he [Elway] said although Vance has not been a head coach and he\u2019s only been a defensive coordinator for one year he has the right abilities to be the leader of men that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph went just 11-21 in two seasons with the Broncos. Stevens said Elway \u201chandcuffed\u201d Joseph by \u201cnot really letting him lead\u201d and by not getting him a proper quarterback. Joseph\u2019s starting quarterbacks in Denver were Trevor Seimian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, and Case Keenum.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn was the one to build the coaching staff around him. So he did not give him the resources that he needed to truly be a head coach,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why a lot of people believe, including myself, that Vance didn\u2019t really get a fair shake his first time as a head coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s ability as a defensive coordinator might not be the biggest reason he is attractive to so many teams, but it certainly is one of them. The Broncos were third in the NFL in points allowed in each of the last two seasons. The Broncos had a league-best 68 quarterback sacks in 2025, four short of the all-time record of 72 set by the Chicago Bears in 1984 during a 16-game season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen how good his defense is, but the type of leader he is, you can see it through the scoreboard and through what the Broncos have gone through since he\u2019s been the defensive coordinator,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThis was the same defense and the same defensive coordinator that gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins in Vance Joseph\u2019s fourth game as their defensive coordinator back in 2023. It was the most embarrassing loss in Broncos history losing to the Dolphins, 70-20. A 50-point loss, gave up 70 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there were very much discussions of will Vance Joseph be fired four games in to his career as a defensive coordinator. Things started off incredibly shaky, but what does Vance do? He gets the defense together. He tells Sean [Payton] to let him run his defense his way. And then the Broncos during the rest of that season have the biggest point differential in terms of the start of a season to the end of a season and defensive points allowed in nearly NFL history. And then that carries into the 2024 season where the Broncos defense is very good and then it becomes elite this year. So not only his defensive prowess is on display there, but it\u2019s his leadership because it could have been incredibly easy with a team that\u2019s one and three to start a season. Just gave up 70 points to fall apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giants interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen, who did well after taking over for Shane Bowen this season, is a Joseph disciple.<\/p>\n

\"Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

Davis Webb with Bo Nix. Denver Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n

What about running the offense?<\/p>\n

Any defensive coordinator looking to move into the head coaching ranks is going to be grilled about his plan for handling the offense. With the Giants needing to make certain they properly shepherd the growth of quarterback Jaxson Dart, the right coaching staff around him is critical.<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s plan on the offensive side of the ball is his trump card when it comes to his search for a head coaching job. The plan? Bring Denver quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, perhaps the hottest non-coordinator in NFL coaching circles right now, with him.<\/p>\n

Webb, of course, is familiar to the Giants as a 2017 third-round pick and two-time Giants backup quarterback. He is familiar to GM Joe Schoen from the Buffalo Bills and Giants. He gets credit for helping Daniel Jones in 2022, and for his work with Bo Nix in Denver.<\/p>\n

Webb is so highly-regarded that he is already getting head coaching interviews. Landing him to run an offense with a young quarterback like Dart might be considered a coup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is exactly the plan,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd I have to imagine that that\u2019s the selling point for Vance Joseph when when he goes in there because they\u2019re going to ask him the offensive plan. And, man, if you point to Davis Webb, he is probably outside of offensive coordinators the hottest offensive mind in the NFL right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webb turns 31 later this month, but Stevens said he would not be shocked if he gets a \u201cSean McVay opportunity.\u201d McVay became head coach of the Los Angeles Rams at age 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he does not get that and Vance gets a head coaching job, I fully believe that he will be Vance\u2019s offensive coordinator,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t say enough good things about Davis Webb. You mentioned it. Giants fans like him. The GM from the Giants loves him.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about Davis Webb as head coach?<\/p>\n

The Giants seem to be looking for experience in their next head coach. There have been no reports they have requested an interview with Webb. But, why not consider it?<\/p>\n

Bringing Webb to New York to be offensive coordinator has obvious appeal. It comes, though, with a danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Jaxson Dart has success the first year, then Davis is going to be poached away to be a head coach somewhere else and you only have him in the building for one year,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I would not be surprised this year and if it doesn\u2019t happen this year, next year that Davis Webb is a head coach somewhere because he gets poached.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Davis Webb gets a head coaching job and Vance Joseph doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski are the clear front-runners in a New York Giants\u2019 head coaching search that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,1917,56,81078,1207,19079,2321,2469,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-665755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-giants","12":"tag-new-york-giants-coaching-staff","13":"tag-new-york-giants-news","14":"tag-new-york-giants-podcasts","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkgiants","17":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115863756901556887","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}