{"id":693013,"date":"2026-01-21T05:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T05:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/693013\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T05:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T05:55:23","slug":"john-harbaugh-couldnt-be-more-pumped-to-coach-malik-nabers-with-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/693013\/","title":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh couldn’t be more pumped to coach Malik Nabers with Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Harbaugh never expected to coach Malik Nabers \u2014 the receiver was not going to fall to the Ravens in the 2024 draft \u2014 and was thrilled to only have to find ways to defend him about once every four seasons.<\/p>\n

So, when they hopped on the phone for the first time in recent days after Harbaugh was hired by the Giants, as Nabers rehabbed his torn ACL in Los Angeles, there was a lot to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just loved talking to him,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cHis joy and excitement. He had some really good ideas. He\u2019s really a thoughtful guy. He wasn\u2019t a guy that we had a chance for [drafting]. It was like, \u2018Look at this guy. He\u2019s really good. Just kind of a dream.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewMalik Nabers catches a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter after beating safety Donovan Wilson (6(, and cornerback Kaiir Elam (20) in the Giants\u2019 loss to the Cowboys\u2019 in Dallas this past regular season.
Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

As Nabers is first to admit, his ideas often boil down to, \u201cThrow me the ball.\u201d Former head coach Brian Daboll let Nabers have input into play-calling and quarterback scouting.<\/p>\n

Nabers said earlier this month that he wouldn\u2019t be back on the field in Week 1 if \u201cmy body doesn\u2019t feel right,\u201d but general manager Joe Schoen struck a more optimistic tone.<\/p>\n

Schoen said Nabers, who underwent surgery Oct. 28, is \u201ctrending to hopefully be ready for [the start of] training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThings can change,\u201d Schoen quickly added. \u201cThat\u2019s the hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harbaugh said there are \u201ca number of guys who have a pretty good idea\u201d they\u2019re coming from the Ravens coaching and support staffs to join the Giants.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t know that until it\u2019s done,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ll keep our fingers crossed on some guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ravens blocked special teams coordinator Chris Horton and others from making lateral moves as they await hiring a new head coach, NFL Network reported.<\/p>\n

\"New Giants head coach John Harbaugh speaks at the press conference announcing his hiring at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The Giants have to satisfy the Rooney Rule and interview at least two minority candidates for coordinator positions and at least one for quarterbacks coach. Other position coaches are not subject to the Rooney Rule.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh said there are \u201cgreat coaches\u201d in-house who he will meet with beginning Wednesday.<\/p>\n

One of the many reasons Harbaugh was attractive to the Giants is his fruitful coaching tree<\/a>. His predecessors have had a difficult time filling out their staffs with in-demand candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will build the very best coaching staff that we can,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cMy dad always said \u2026 coaches are teachers first. The ability to take a vision that\u2019s well-organized, a structure that\u2019s put together in a really good way that the players can play fast, play around their skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken is a candidate to be Browns head coach. If he doesn\u2019t get that job, he\u2019ll be the favorite to call plays for Jaxson Dart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good offensive minds out there,\u201d Schoen said, \u201cand we\u2019re going to talk to several candidates specifically on that side of the ball because that\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Schoen said RB Cam Skattebo \u201cshould be good\u201d to participate in the offseason program that begins April 6 after his season ended due to a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh never expected to coach Malik Nabers \u2014 the receiver was not going to fall to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,2909,4126,1917,56,2321,2469,6,5737,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-693013","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-john-harbaugh","11":"tag-malik-nabers","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-giants","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkgiants","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-ny-sports-minute","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115931548501445552","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693013","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=693013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}