The Giants' longest-serving player still standing and playing says this about Brian Daboll:
Give him another chance.
“I think so,” wide receiver Darius Slayton told The Post on Wednesday after practice. “It's been three years, and I think another year to try and give him a chance to really get things going would be justified.”
Slayton doesn't have a contract until 2025, so this isn't just a case of a player being nice to his boss.
Daboll could be working his final few days with the Giants, which would be an amazing reversal of fortune, considering he was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 2022.
The Giants are 3-13 heading into Sunday's season finale against the Eagles — who will not use their starters, including Saquon Barkley — and shortly after that trip to Philadelphia, a decision will be made by ownership on whether Daboll will stay on as head coach and Joe Schoen remains General Manager.
“If Joe and Dubs leave, those are the guys that recruited me, so yeah, it will definitely affect me,” third-year receiver Wandale Robinson told The Post. Make this thing work.”
Getting things going this season has been extremely difficult and almost impossible for Daboll.
He kept the locker room together, which is a positive, but there was also a franchise-record 10-game winning streak, which is a complete minus.
Outside linebacker Brian Burns is finishing his first season with the team, so his point of reference with Daboll doesn't go back to 2022, when Daboll arrived to take his first-ever head coaching job at any level of football.
Last week the Giants accomplished something rare and unexpected — they actually won a game, beating the Colts 45-33 — and Burns was asked if players rallied around Daboll to claim that victory.
“We've been around him all year,” Burns said.
This was the case. A simple declarative statement without much emotion.
That seems to sum up the feeling about Daboll inside the Giants' locker room. Most players haven't been around long enough to show a strong personal connection.
Some of the notable players who were with Daboll in their only winning season in three years — Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence — are injured reserves and not really part of the fabric of the team right now.
“Ultimately, it's up to ownership and what they decide,” said Slayton, who has had three head coaches in his six years. “It's a tough job, and just as tough decisions are made on players, there are tough decisions made on coaches. I remember when Joe Judge got fired, he didn't get fired, and then the next day he came into meetings and got sacked. You never know.
Daboll made no secret of his excitement early in his first NFL draft with the Giants when Robinson was selected in the second round.
This was a slot receiver that Daboll believed would work perfectly in the offensive system.
It didn't exactly go as planned — nothing really happened — but Robinson has 83 receptions this season and is a staunch defender of Daboll.
“It's above my pay grade but I'd love to have him back,” Robinson said. “He's the one who recruited me, and he stood at the table for me. I believe in him, and he believes in me.”
Daboll has not publicly declared himself worthy of a return, though when he said, “I think if you get a good quarterback play, you'll have a chance every game” after Drew Lock scored five touchdowns and no turnovers in the victory, it was heard On the Colts in some circles as a message to ownership: Get me a quarterback and you'll see how much better everything has become.
When asked to evaluate his performance separate from Schwinn's business group, Daboll said: “You'd have to ask John,” referring to the team's co-owner, John Mara.
As for his assessment of the big change made this season – replacing Mike Kafka at forward – Daboll said: “Yes, we won three games, so it's not good enough.”
The record isn't impressive — 18-31-1 in the regular season, 1-1 in the playoffs — and the downward trajectory is troubling — nine wins to six to three.
There's also a not-so-distant memory from his debut season as evidence that he had touch in close games and was able to navigate the suspect list during a winning season.
“I've had absolute confidence in Dabis and our offensive staff since I've been here,” Robinson said.
We'll soon find out if the monarchy thinks the same way.
