From ‘Bono’ to ‘Bozo’ already? Just let NY Giants coach John Harbaugh do his work

It is amazing how quickly the opinions of some fans can change. And, how small things no one has any idea ill prove to be right or wrong can be the cause.

When John Harbaugh, a Super Bowl-winning head coach with 12 playoff appearances in 18 years as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens was hired less than two weeks, there was nearly absolute joy in Giants Nation. In our poll asking if hiring Harbaugh was the right decision, 95.21% (5,227) of 5,490 voters said it was.

There were comments like these:

WharfRatHarbaugh and Dart will deliver us another SB, I truly believe thatbeanwantsdeathDart's retiring with more rings than Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson combined. Book it.Ender_I haven't seen Big Blue Viewers this aligned on a decision in my life. May the next decade be one of redemption.

I wrote this after the hiring:

No other hiring would have been met with the excitement, or brought the instant credibility that Harbaugh did. The Giants have been flailing for more than a decade now, going mostly in the wrong direction. Harbaugh offers them the best chance for a course correction.

He comes from a winning environment that he was a big part of establishing and maintaining. He brings with him knowledge of how the Ravens have been consistently good, and the cachet to get ideas implemented with the Giants. We are already seeing some of that take place. He brings a reputation with him for having a keen eye for finding quality young assistant coaches who could help set the organization up for sustained success.

On the field and in the locker room, Harbaugh is a culture-setting CEO type head coach who brings the ability - and credibility - to set standards and hold players accountable. The Giants, and the entire organization, desperately need that.

Remember John Mara warning Brian Daboll after he won Coach of the Year honors for the 2022 season that it wasn't hard to go from Bono' to Bozo' in the New York/New Jersey market?

Well, when he was introduced as the team's head coach last Tuesday, Harbaugh was clearly Bono.' Maybe the Beatles. In a more modern reference, perhaps Taylor Swift.

Today, there are already fans throwing darts at him.

Why?

First, Harbaugh had the temerity to send Carmen Bricillo, a popular, effective offensive line coach, packing. That led to comments like these:

Giantswin5thThis sucks especially if George Warhop is the guy to take over. Nice guy in his 60's with lots of oline coaching experience. Unfortunately heading up many underwhelming lines.Do0msdayThis is a questionable move at best. I just don't understand why he wouldn't stay - especially since he was under contract for another year and has proven that he can work wonders with what he's given. I also find it strange since Jack Harbaugh gave a ringing endorsement and told him to keep him. I don't understand this at all.
MaineG1So there was no bigger supporter of the JH acquisition than MaineG1.... But this is a major disappointment! I don't understand the reason behind fixing something that's been so horribly wrong for such a long time under any circumstance. For anyone making claims that this is just minor move and, there's no reason for concern. You obviously haven't been paying attention over the last 10 years. Before Bricillo, the offensive line was one of the 3 worst in NFL history.

I can't understand that Harbaugh looked at that man's resume and came to the conclusion he could get someone better? Direct disciple of Dante Scarnecchia. Plus the job he did with the Raiders. Who by the way, were an absolute shit show just slightly less terrible than the steaming pile of dung the Giants had been trotting out over the past decade.

I was also a fan of Patterson, but the run defense over the last 3 years has been dreadful.... So letting him go makes sense, but, Bricillo is a head scratcher. I also hope the plan isn't to bring in the Oline coach from the Ravens? For those who don't know? Joe D passed away at the beginning of the season and, was replaced by George Warhop. He was the offensive line coach for the 49ers and, Bucs I believe in the early 2000s. For the most part those lines were terrible.... 2024 under Joe D, the offensive line was really good. 2025 under Warhop, absolutely shitty. This can't be the way.

Then, Harbaugh went and hired a defensive coordinator some fans think is terrible.

Century MilsteadAnother bad Tennessee DC. I have, misgivings.
Okay, it was a mistake to hire Harbaugh. Everything is going to hell. Fire Schoen. The Mara's should be forced to sell the team. Trade Dart for draft picks. Burn it to the ground.

Panic!A-boogie blueWas hoping this was not true. Here's his report card for his last season :

Total Defense Rank: 21st in yards, 28th in points
Opponent Points: 478 allowed (28th)
Total Yards Allowed: 5,867
Defensive Line Ranking: 14th

So total garbage.

Way to really go for excellence Coach! Forget the guy coaching in the AFC championship or the passing coordinator in one of the most complex, vicious, aggressive modern defenses. Let's get a guy who managed to coach a 3 win teams defense to the 28th ranking.

We really managed to grab a guy from one of the only programs worse than ours, who has no idea what winning looks like, who's defense just Barely ranked better than Shane Bowen and Bullen...? Just fking wow.

Losing Bricillo and Patterson this week coupled with this latest absurd hire, It's been a very bad week for John harbaugh.

Hopefully he can at least get Monken in here.
save the offense.

I will says I enjoyed these:

HarbossLMAO
Folks around here acting like Harbs just hired Shane Bowen again!
Anger ManagedGiants fans last weekend - Give Harbaugh whatever he wants, just get him signed! In Harbaugh we trust!!!

Giants fans this weekend - What??? He hired a different guy than the one I wanted?? Harbaugh out!!!Let the man work, people!

Harbaugh was never going to make every decision you or I would have made. Yes, I was hoping he would keep Carmen Bricillo as offensive line coach. He didn't. So be it. There will be more decisions you don't like. Harbaugh will be right about some, wrong about others. Probably, he will be right far more often than he is wrong.

Harbaugh has an 18-year body of really successful work with the Baltimore Ravens and a Rolodex compiled over something like four decades of coaching that earned him a five-year, $100 million contract and the ability to make the decisions he wants to make.

Harbaugh is the best, most capable, most qualified person the Giants have hired on their coaching staff or in their front office since they let Tom Coughlin go after the 2015 season.

He knows what he wants in an offensive line coach. He knows plenty of people who could tell him what he wanted to know about Bricillo's work, and his coaching style. He met with Bricillo himself. He decided Bricillo wasn't the right coach for what he wanted. I would rather have him make that choice than keep a coach on staff he wasn't certain about to appease the fan base, or the offensive linemen.

Maybe Harbaugh will hire George Warhop, a long-time NFL offensive line coach who was with him in Baltimore the last two seasons. Maybe he will hire someone else. Maybe it will turn out well. Maybe it won't.

When it comes to Wilson, again Harbaugh is far more qualified to make this decision and knows far more about Wilson than any of us.

You can simply point to the 2025 statistics that showed Wilson's Tennessee defense 28th in points and 21st in yardage allowed, and decide he is a terrible coach and a terrible hire. Or, you can look deeper.

You can look back at 2024, his first season. His bio on the Titans' website, which likely won't be available much longer, includes this:

During Wilson's first year in Tennessee, the Titans ranked second overall in total defense (311.2 opponent yards per game)-the team's highest ranking since leading the NFL in total defense in 2000. The 2024 Titans also finished second in passing defense (177.3), which also was their best ranking since 2000 (first). Wilson's defense tied for the fifth-fewest first downs allowed per game (18.5) and tied for the fifth-fewest opponent yards allowed per play (5.2) in 2024.

You can trust ESPN Titans beat writer Turron Davenport, who told me recently that Wilson wasn't given much to work with" in 2025 but did a good job.

You can trust Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, who wanted Wilson to stay in Tennessee.

Jeffery Simmons understands it's not up to him BUT if he has it his way, he'd love to have Dennard Wilson back with the #Titans. pic.twitter.com/Kc4Qhxurko

- TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) December 31, 2025

You can trust Jimmy Morris of SB Nation's Music City Miracles, who wrote this recently predicting Wilson would land with the Giants:

Wilson did a really good job with the Titans this year. The numbers weren't great, but you have to account for the fact that all three of his starting corners were either traded or injured for most of the season. He also had zero EDGE presence for the entire year.

I thought that Wilson would land as the defensive coordinator for John with the New York Giants. He might still, but it would be surprising if he took the Chargers interview with Jim, knowing he could get the Giants job with John.

The Giants brought in Harbaugh because of his record of success. He is, naturally, going to want to bring in people he knows and has had success with.

Maybe at least wait until the Giants blow a fourth-quarter lead next fall because of a decision Harbaugh makes that backfires before thinking he is a Bozo.