Kevin Stefanski is one of the top names available on the coaching carousel, and Colin Cowherd believes that there’s one obvious fit for the former Cleveland Browns head coach: the New York Giants.
If the Giants hire Stefanski this offseason, Cowherd believes the veteran coach would instantly turn New York into a potential playoff contender.
“The team I would pick next year as my ‘Double Your Win Total Team’ would be the New York Giants if Kevin Stefanski is hired. That’s how highly I think of him,” Cowherd said on Tuesday’s “The Herd.” “The Giants, with Kevin Stefanski, would have a last-place schedule, [Cam] Skattebo, [Malik] Nabers returns, Andrew Thomas is a good left tackle, the No. 5 pick in the draft and they can manipulate and get more picks. This is an absolute layup. No offense to Mike Kafka, the interim guy.”
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As it turns out, Stefanski might view the Giants’ vacancy as a top job, too. New York is set to be the first team he interviews with on Wednesday following his dismissal from Cleveland on Monday, ESPN reported.
The Giants’ vacancy is widely viewed as one of the top head coach openings, despite their 4-13 record in 2025, for many of the reasons Cowherd said. FOX Sports’ Ben Arthur ranked the Giants’ vacancy as the third-most attractive job of the seven head coach openings, and mentioned quarterback Jaxson Dart among the chief reasons why the New York job is appealing.
Cowherd has some issues with Dart, but the problems he has with the rookie quarterback aren’t enough to outweigh the overall positives of the team. Plus, Cowherd is still, at least, a little optimistic about the QB’s long-term potential.
Would the Giants be the best landing spot for Kevin Stefanski?
“Jaxson Dart’s in the blue tent way more than I like, but when you have a last-place schedule, a No. 1 left tackle, a No. 1 back, a No. 1 quarterback, an excellent pass rusher and the No. 5 pick, that’s pretty solid,” Cowherd said. “You look at the teams at the top of the draft, outside of the team that gets [Fernando] Mendoza, the Giants are pretty interesting.”
Added Cowherd: “I don’t know what Jaxson Dart’s going to become, but no reasonable person would deny it’s encouraging. The Giants were swimming in chaos, and he was kind of encouraging.”
Dart, the No. 25 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, only went 4-8 in his 12 starts as a rookie. But, he might have already proven himself to be one of the game’s top dual-threat quarterbacks after completing 63.7% of his passes for 2,272 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 91.7 passer rating to go with 487 rushing yards and nine rushing scores.
With that stat line, there’s certainly enough to think that Dart could make a leap like Drake Maye or Caleb Williams made in 2025 in their first seasons with a new head coach. In fact, Cowherd viewed the New England Patriots similarly to the Giants at this time last year, proclaiming that they would be his “Double Your Win Total Team” after hiring Mike Vrabel.
Cowherd doesn’t think the Giants are ready to win 14 games yet like the Patriots did in 2025, but he wouldn’t be surprised if bringing in Stefanski led to a winning record.
“I’m not saying it’s a great team. They’re not turning into New England this year. But that would be a really good team,” Cowherd said.
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