Kevin Stefanski dined but didn’t dash.
One day after he was fired by the Browns, the Giants had dinner Tuesday night with Stefanski to kick off their head coach search, a source told The Post’s Paul Schwartz. Stefanski then was in the Giants building on Wednesday afternoon as the first official interview for the vacancy.
If schedules permit, it’s typical for the Giants to schedule a get-to-know-you dinner with a candidate for a high-profile job or a marquee free agent the day before getting down to business in a formal setting.
Ownership is expected to be part of today’s meetings.
Even if Stefanski knocks it out of the park, the Giants can’t hire him today.
The Rooney Rule requires that the Giants conduct two in-person interviews with external minority candidates before making a hire. So, neither the in-person interview scheduled with interim head coach Mike Kafka (Puerto Rican descent) nor the Zoom interview scheduled with Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph counts toward the requirement.
Not to mention that Stefanski is going to want to explore other options — the Titans have an opening and a promising young quarterback, too — and the Giants have an interview arranged for next week with former Cowboys/Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and interest in speaking with former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
Stefanski and Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart hit it off during the pre-draft process, and Stefanski has been on the Giants’ radar for years. Former head coach Pat Shurmur tried to bring Stefanski with him as offensive coordinator in 2018, but the Vikings blocked the move.
Stefanski went 45-56 in six years as the Browns’ head coach, but won NFL Coach of the Year honors for both of the times that he took the moribund franchise to the playoffs. His father is former Nets general manager Ed Stefanski, so he essentially was a teenager hanging around the Meadowlands.
