Instant Reaction: John Harbaugh Reportedly Hires New Offensive Coordinator

Matt Nagy will be tasked with overseeing the Giants offense under new head coach John Harbaugh.

Matt Nagy is the Giants' new offensive coordinator. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

There has yet to be an official puff of blue smoke from the New York Giants' team headquarters regarding any of their assistant coaching hires, but reportedly, a key hire has been made.

Matt Nagy, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears who was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, will become the Giants' new offensive coordinator under head coach John Harbaugh.

Nagy, who, like Harbaugh, comes from the Andy Reid coaching tree, worked together in Philadelphia from 2008-2012 under Reid as a coaching intern, coaches’ assistant, and offensive quality control coach. 

He most recently reunited with Reid in Kansas City for a second stint as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2022, holding the role through the 2025 season before deciding to move on in search of a head coaching position, which he had held from 2018 to 2021 with the Chicago Bears.

Nagy interviewed for the Ravens head coaching job, which ultimately went to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Now, Nagy lands with the Giants, where he is expected to call plays and continue the development of Jaxson Dart. 

Why This Is a Potentially Good Hire

Matt Nagy (right) | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The number one objective of Giants head coach John Harbaugh when it came to his choice as offensive coordinator was to ensure he picked someone who could advance the offense, and in particular, quarterback Jaxson Dart.

In a way, he’s done that with the hire of Nagy, who was the NFL Coach of the Year in 2018 with the Bears. Nagy follows former Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, whom Nagy ironically replaced as the Chiefs' quarterbacks coach after the Giants hired Kafka.

The hire gives the Giants a degree of continuity, as Nagy is likely to bring some of the concepts he ran with the Giants.

But more importantly, Nagy, who worked with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, managed to get Mahomes to better understand when to go all out on runs and when to live to see another down, something the Giants have yet to accomplish with Dart, at least consistently. 

Why This is Potentially a Bad Hire

Matt Nagy | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

If you want to nitpick at this hire, the biggest reason would be consistency in the Chiefs' performance with Nagy, who didn’t call the plays during his time in Kansas City as the offensive coordinator.  

In Nagy’s first season with the Chiefs (2017) after replacing Eric Bieniemy, Kansas City finished fifth in total yards and sixth in scoring.

Since then, however, the Chiefs' offense failed to notch a top-10 ranking in either category, save for finishing ninth in total offense in 2023.

Not that this hurt the Chiefs, who from 2023 to 2025 made two Super Bowl appearances, winning the first in 2023 and losing the second in 2024 to the Eagles.

But it’s still something noteworthy to watch as is Nagy’s apparent desire to return to the head coaching ranks at some point.

For now, he will look to raise his stock in working with a fairly young and talented Giants offense, to the point where perhaps this time next year, when the next head coaching cycle opens, Nagy will get more than just a nibble. 

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