Why the Little Details Matter in John Harbaugh's Pending Giants Contract

John Harbaugh is said to be a very detail-oriented head coach, so perhaps some existing setups in the Giants organization are among those on which he's seeking clarity.

John Harbaugh and the Giants are said to be inching closer to finalizing his new contract. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The contract between the New York Giants and head coach-to-be John Harbaugh is going to get done–eventually and perhaps as soon as Saturday, but, according to most, in time for the team to officially announce his hiring and introduce him as the team’s 24th head coach on Tuesday during a press conference.

But for now, there are still some little details in the multipage contract that need to be ironed out, the biggest, per multiple reports, being organizational and operational issues.

One such organizational issue that has been speculated to be a reason for the holdup is the reporting structure. 

In Baltimore, Harbaugh reported directly to owner Steve Bisciotti rather than to the general managers, Ozzie Newsome and, more recently, Eric DeCosta, and worked closely with both on the day-to-day management of the roster.  

But with the Giants, that shouldn’t be an issue because, other than for George Young, who had 100% autonomy over the entire Giants football operation, including the fate of the head coach, coaching staff, and roster, no Giants general manager has been granted that level of authority since. 

That means that while current general manager Joe Schoen and the head coach work closely together on the roster and all things related to the football operations, at the end of the day, it’s ownership that has final say over the fate of the head coach. 

That structure was made clear when the team fired head coach Brian Daboll, releasing a statement on behalf of co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch that also confirmed Schoen would be retained to help lead the search for the next head coach.

Are organizational structure changes at the root of the holdup?

A more realistic possibility for the holdup could be in clarifying how the support staff’s reporting structure lies. 

For example, Cade Knox was listed on the Giants' coaching staff under Daboll and interim head coach Mike Kafka. Knox is also part of the organization's analytics team, headed by Ty Siam, who is listed as the team’s Director of Football Data & Innovation, under the Football Operations banner on the Giants website. 

Like many billion-dollar businesses, the Giants have always stressed a collaborative working relationship between its various departments, such an environment having been emphasized all the way back to the franchise's earliest days. 

So while redefining the organizational reporting structure, if that's indeed among the issues holding up the completion of the deal, might seem, at least on the surface, as a minor detail, Harbaugh, who has reportedly been meticulous in the vetting of his next job, probably wants no room for misinterpretation as he seeks to dot his i's and cross his t's.

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