John Harbaugh, New York Giants agree to 5-year contract

By Charlotte Carroll, Ian O’Connor and Dianna Russini

New York Giants fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The Giants and John Harbaugh finalized a five-year deal on Saturday to make the Super Bowl XLVII champion their next head coach.

“It’s the New York Football Giants,” Harbaugh told The Athletic. “I can’t wait to get started. I know how great our fans are. I’ve seen them close up enough. We are going to build a team that’s going to play a brand of football that you will be proud of.”

Negotiations, which began late Wednesday night, continued through the week as the team and coach worked to hammer out a deal.

Harbaugh told The Athletic that he would report directly to Giants co-owner John Mara. Historically, the Giants have employed a different front-office chain of command, with the head coach reporting to the general manager and the GM to owners Mara and Steve Tisch. But during his 18-season tenure as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, Harbaugh reported directly to team owner Steve Bisciotti, and the coach negotiated a similar arrangement with the Giants.

Harbaugh told The Athletic that he looks forward to building a strong partnership with Giants GM Joe Schoen, who is entering the final year of his contract with the team.

Harbaugh drew interest from as many as nine teams following his firing by the Ravens, but the Giants launched a massive push to land the veteran coach. From the get-go, the Giants were the perceived front-runners to land the 63-year-old head coach. Not only was Schoen in contact with Harbaugh in the hours after the firing, but he called Harbaugh’s agent repeatedly, per The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor.

The Giants also went to Harbaugh, with senior executive Chris Mara, the younger brother of co-owner John, telling The Athletic that he met with Harbaugh for a Sunday lunch and meeting at the coach’s home. There were phone meetings, and it all led to a day-long Wednesday meeting, which began with Harbaugh flying in on Tisch’s private jet. The day included meetings, a tour of the practice facility and a meet-and-greet with quarterback Jaxson Dart. The visit was capped by dinner at a local restaurant, Elia Mediterranean, before Harbaugh departed.

While Harbaugh’s departure initially worried fans who wanted to not let him out of the building, conversations continued and, by late Wednesday, news broke that Harbaugh was canceling his scheduled interview with the Tennessee Titans at his home Thursday and working out a deal with the Giants.

Next up for Harbaugh comes assembling the staff.

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