Mike Kafka's Play-calling Duties Still Unknown for 2024

Kafka was promoted to assistant head coach, so what does that mean for his main duty as offensive play-caller?

In an off-season of significant coaching turnover that saw defensive coordinator Wink Martindale re-sign his post and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey terminated, the New York Giants managed to retain one of the three original coordinators on head coach Brian Daboll’s staff—barely, or so it would seem.

That, of course, is offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who is entering his third season as an NFL offensive coordinator. Kafka, who has twice now drawn head coaching interest around the league—yes, even in this past hiring cycle despite the struggles of an offense that was wrecked by a combination of injuries and poor play across the board—was thought of so highly by Daboll that he promoted him to assistant head coach.

“It's certainly an honor to have that title. I don't take it lightly,” Kafka said Monday in his first public comments since the end of last season. “Some of the responsibilities I've done with Dabs and going through the off-season, number one, kind of being a part a little bit more of the interview process.

We've hired some new coaches, some new staff around the building. So being a part of that, how the inner workings of those decisions happen, and then sitting in on building out this off-season--listening to our health department work through our injured guys and their progress and how they will build that into our off-season program, that's been cool to be a part of the backbone.”

The added responsibilities are to help Kafka, who still aspires to be a head coach, better prepare for that day. But for now, he’s back with the Giants and was quick to dismiss any rumors of friction between him and Daboll, the latter of whom reportedly took the play calling away from Kafka at times last season.

“I love working with Dabes,” Kafka said. “It’s been a collaborative process. We want to win every game, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. We go through the ups and downs of a season, and we’re all competitive; we all want to win. That’s what I love about him.’’

The question moving forward for Kafka, at least, is whether he will continue to be the team’s primary play-caller or is something Daboll, himself a successful play-caller before being hired as the Giants’ head coach, will take on this year.

“Yeah, every year is different — you got to go through the evaluation process, and this year is no different,’ Kafka said in response to a question about whether he wanted to continue calling the plays.
In his first season as head coach, Daboll let Kafka call the plays during the spring practices while he listened in on the headset.

He became convinced of the former quarterback’s ability to handle the job, which he did at times brilliantly in leading the Giants to a 9-7-1 record and their first playoff berth since 2016. That season, the offense averaged 21.5 points per game and finished ranked 18th in the league (333.9 yards per game).

Last year, however, the Giant's offense went backward, not only because of a rash of injuries that disrupted the chemistry’s continuity. The Giants finished 6-11 in 2023, their offense ranking 30th in the NFL in scoring (15.6 points per game).

Thus far, Daboll hasn’t revealed his plans about who will be calling the plays this season, though when the topic has come up, he sure has sounded like a man itching to call the plays again.

There is also the belief that Kafka is likely to take on additional game-day responsibilities due to his new promotion, which could free Daboll up to call the plays in what is a critical year ahead for the Giants franchise.

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow Patricia Traina on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
• Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel