Giants pushed to hire $9 million college football coach after Brian Daboll firing

Detailed view of a New York Giants logo on a bass drum | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

After watching more than half-a-dozen major college football jobs come open already this season, an NFL team has now joined the party and pulled the trigger on firing their head coach. That's the New York Giants, who dismissed Brian Daboll on Monday in the middle of his fourth season following a loss to the Bears on Sunday which dropped the team to 2-8.

With a head coaching job open in the Big Apple, those college jobs that have recently come open may have some stiff professional competition when it comes to signing their top candidates. Particularly, Robert Griffin III is already suggesting the Giants consider one massively popular name in the LSU and Florida coaching searches.

"The New York Giants should hire Lane Kiffin," Griffin posted on X shortly after news broke of Daboll's ouster. Kiffin is already one of the favorites to land the Florida job, while he's a top option at LSU, and surely would have his pick of Penn State, Auburn or any other major open job given what he's doing at Ole Miss this season and has already accomplished in the past.

The New York Giants should hire Lane Kiffin.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 10, 2025

Kiffin has yet to lead his own program to a College Football Playoff, but is circling his postseason dreams like a vulture as his Rebels just advanced to 9-1 and appear certain to make the playoff field barring a total 0-2 collapse down the stretch.

Playoff appearance could prevent Lane Kiffin from leaving

Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel thoughtfully laid out the forgotten aspect of the entire Lane Kiffin coaching sweepstakes a few weeks back. If the Rebels cash in on their CFP aspirations, how can another college program, or NFL team, juggle the timelines of waiting him out while trying to retain players and build a new team.

"The regular season in college football ends in late November; the Playoff starts December 19," Thamel notes. "It is possible, but if you are a Playoff coach and you are going to take a job, it is going to be a high-wire act to do that, especially if you win games in the Playoff."

Plus, the NFL regular season ends in January, when Kiffin could very well still be caught up in a postseason run. NFL teams can certainly be more patient than college programs who need to manage the portal as soon as the regular season ends, but still, a franchise is unlikely to want to wait nearly a month to hire their coach.