Mike Kafka Reflects on Growth as Giants Interim Head Coach

Kafka didn't get the results he was looking for, but he did gain some valuable experience.

New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka | David Reginek-Imagn Images

New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka likely isn’t going to have the “interim” label removed from his title after the season ends. And he may or may not get an opportunity to interview for any of the other head coach openings expected to happen in the days after the 2025 regular season ends.

But if they do and if teams come calling, Kafka is hoping the experience he’s gained from his seven-game audition with the Giants is enough to convince another team that, given the opportunity to build a program from scratch, he’s more than up to the task. 

“Absolutely. You're learning something new every single day,” he said on Wednesday before the Giants' practice. “I think if you have that kind of mindset, and that's what we want to stress to our players.”

Kafka hasn’t been able to make wholesale changes during his seven-game audition, but what he’s done is show no fear of being his own man.

He tweaked the team’s practice schedule, most notably changing the players' day off from Tuesday to Monday. He fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox. 

And he openly held outside linebacker Abdul Carter accountable for missing team events by benching him, sending a message to the rest of the team that talent level doesn’t make anyone exempt from the rules.

Although the Giants have improved statistically in many categories on defense and on offense since Kafka's promotion, the bottom line results–New York is currently 1-5 under Kafka with one game remaining– all but assure that Kafka will not get the chance to build up the Giants program from scratch.

Kafka, to his credit, hasn't worried about anything beyond the present, which is to get the team ready for its regular-season finale against the Cowboys this weekend. 

“You certainly, as I thought about this role in general, you certainly have a plan, you certainly have thoughts on how you would handle certain situations, how you would handle certain players, how you would handle certain things throughout the week, and I've tried to implement those things,” he said. 

“Again, the whole basis and the genesis of everything when I first got it was, ‘Let's not just make change to make change just because. Let's do it with intent. Let's do it for the right reasons and let's have a well-thought-out process in doing that.’

“That's how we’ve attacked it personally, that's how I've attacked it with the staff and with the players, and I think they've responded well.”

Kafka admitted that with more time, there would probably have been more changes to the Giants' program. Over, he had to prioritize what needed fixing and, more importantly, what could be fixed given the resources available to him.

The experience, despite the lack of wins, has been a valuable one for the former NFL quarterback as he finishes out his seven-game audition for the league.

“I have a lot of confidence in my abilities as a coach and as a leader,” he said. “Again, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about that. I'll have time to reflect after the season, but I have a lot of confidence in myself.”

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