The Giants head coaching sweepstakes requires Serby Says to get the lowdown on many of the hot candidates from media insiders who observe them up close and personal during the season or seasons:
Mike McCarthy (Former Packers and Cowboys head coach): “He’s great for quarterbacks, he helped Dak Prescott,” the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins said. “His offense might be a little older ’cause it’s a West Coast, so that could be a little tiring, but in terms of leadership, he treats the guys like adults, knows how to handle the star players and lets them do what they do. Micah Parsons loved Mike McCarthy. Mike would have conversations with him and challenge him to be a leader more and more. But he’s always been a quarterback whisperer. … I think you can question every coach in their game management, but this guy did win a Super Bowl. If he gets one more Super Bowl, he’s a Hall of Famer. He wins a lot of games. I don’t think he’ll be one of those fake-tough-guy head coaches. He’ll show you his personality. He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to put a team together, he really does.”
Jeff Hafley (Packers defensive coordinator): Jersey guy. “He’s a driven guy. He’s very good at the Xs and Os and focusing in on weaknesses and things like that, and he’s extremely organized, which I think is essential for a head coach,” Packers radio play-by-play voice Wayne Larrivee said. “And he does have head coaching experience, as you know, at Boston College, and I think that’s valuable. But yes, he can command the room, he really can. He’s got an authoritative voice and presence about him. I think he’d be terrific as a head coach, I really do.”
Chris Shula (Rams DC): “He is a really good teacher. He can help teach every position in a way that helps the overall function of the scheme that he wants to run, and I think he’s a really good game-planner,” The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue said. “They’re able to play in a way that maximizes their strengths and attacks weaknesses of the opponent. … He’s calm, which is funny ’cause Sean [McVay] is not always calm. Chris is kind of a listen-first guy and he just stays steady. I think he’s worked really hard at getting better in front of the media. The same way he would be in a meeting room he would be in front of that group. It’s hard to rattle him, it’s hard to sort of get him to speak outside the point that he’s trying to make. He’s very, very calm, very steady, very focused on the intent of what he’s trying to say or do.”
