Report: John Harbaugh Makes Decision on Holdover Giants Head Coaches

Harbaugh is reportedly keeping just two assistant coaches from the Giants' previous staff.

John Harbaugh is reportedly not retaining New York Giants offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo as part of his staff. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh has reportedly completed meetings with the assistant coaches from the previous Giants staff and has decided who he intends to keep.

Surprisingly, he is not keeping offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, who was considered a favorite to be retained, according to a New York Post report.

The Giants' offensive line was long an Achilles' heel until Bricillo came along. This past season, the Giants' offensive line finished with the fourth-best pass-block efficiency rate (87.6) according to Pro Football Focus. 

Harbaugh, per the report, is retaining Charlie Bullen and Tim Kelly, both of whom finished the 2025 season as the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator, respectively, under interim head coach Mike Kafka.

Bullen, who was promoted from outside linebackers coach after the team fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen following the Week 12 loss to the Detroit Lions, actually got the Giants' defense playing much better across the board. 

The #NYGiants defense has been much better since Charlie Bullen, took over as defensive coordinator. Here's a look at the numbers under Bullen and Shane Bowen from this season. #GiantsNation #GiantsDefense #BigBlue pic.twitter.com/0EhcPPpzbQ

— Locked On Giants (@LockedOn_Giants) December 29, 2025

While he’s not likely to be the defensive coordinator under Harbaugh, Bullen could go back to being the team’s outside linebackers coach, where he was instrumental in the development of Abdul Carter and veteran Brian Burns. 

Carter is currently up for AP Defensive Rookie of the Year after closing out the last five years of his rookie season with 3.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, and 15 of his quarterback hits. 

Burns, meanwhile, enjoyed one of his finest seasons, recording a career-high 16.5 sacks as the crowning achievement and earning his third Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro nod.

Kelly, who was initially the team’s tight ends coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator, offers a semblance of continuity for quarterback Jaxson Dart. Still, it’s unlikely that he will be named the team’s offensive coordinator despite having had experience in that role for both the Giants, Texans, and Titans. 

Although Kelly didn’t call plays for the Giants after he was promoted to offensive coordinator, he did become more heavily involved in the game planning strategy. Dart saw his completion percentage rise from 62.7% to 65.2% after the change.

The Giants also did a better job in terms of balancing out the designed runs called for the rookie gunslinger.

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