Giants hire Brian Daboll’s son as assistant coach

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NFL coaches frequently give jobs to their sons, and Giants head coach Brian Daboll is no exception.

Christian Daboll has been added to the coaching staff with the title of offensive assistant, according to the Giants’ website. The younger Daboll’s name was quietly added to the website with no formal announcement, perhaps an attempt not to draw too much attention to a move that will surely result in some criticism for nepotism.

For the last three and a half years, Christian Daboll has been a student at Penn State and worked with the football coaching staff there. Brian Daboll told Giants.com last season that he had visited Penn State when all the seniors, including his son, were honored.

“He’s been a student-coach there for three and a half years; he signals the plays in,” Brian Daboll said. “So, they honored all the senior players, and the support staff that are seniors also got honored before the game. It was a nice Saturday drive to see him at Penn State, and we drove right back after the game.”

Christian Daboll’s specific job responsibilities are not known.

29 responses to “Giants hire Brian Daboll’s son as assistant coach

  1. I know people will cry ‘nepotism’ about this. Do those same people cry ‘nepotism’ about the Steelers having 2 sets of brothers on their roster? Nepotism cannot be acceptable only for government, academia, and NFL players but not for NFL or CFB coaches and their staffs or private sector businesses.

  2. This is one thing Daboll has done that I find fault with. Nepotism is embarrassing in most cases. Maybe a lot of coaches do it (because they can get away with it) but i still think it stinks.I would be ashamed as a son, if my daddy handed me a job when there are many better qualified and experienced others out there who never get a damn break.

  3. Unnecessary Puritan instinct reaction. From the facts, the young man has a track record. Go pound sand fellas.

  4. I can never understand why people have such a problem with this. Nepotism is real, but in a sport like football, why wouldn’t you want someone that grew up immersed in the sport. Most of the great coaches out there now had dads that were good coaches too.

  5. And when was the last one that worked out? It does happen but not often, and the Giants were very much a fraud team last year. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but look at their playoff game, they were way out of their league, and still have no offensive pieces. Focus less on hiring your family, and make the changes you need to.

  6. Next they’ll say, he gained invaluable benefit from sitting around the dinner table. By that reasoning their wives should also be eligible for all these prime coaching jobs. Nepotism should be illegal as it discriminates against more qualified candidates.

  7. Ope, that was a nice run while it lasted. Team WILL NOT make the playoffs this year.

  8. These are the kinds of jobs that are stepping stones to move up toward head coaching positions. I don’t object to giving one to family, but if we ever want to get to a place where the Rooney rule is not necessary, these jobs need to be less about personal connections and more about finding talent.

  9. I work with my son. I worked with my Dad to I understand. Would be wary of this. Andy Reid hired his son in KC. At one point Reid’s son was our defensive line coach. Reid’s son never really seemed like he should have been hired, when there are qualified and experienced coaches available.

  10. The NFL is the only place this sort of thing happens. Everywhere else in the country it’s all strictly fair and based on merit.

  11. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t want my first job out of college that way. I’m sure he could have received a job based on his last name, but at least it would feel like he earned it.

  12. He called in the plays at Penn State – as a student helper. He just graduated. Has no legit coaching experience.

    He will be CALLING plays for NYG pretty soon.

    Nepotism is worse in the NFL than any other sport – because the staffs are so large it’s become accepted that a HC can simply sneak a son onto staff and no one will question it. But it just feeds the monster and racial divide, since most of the HCs are white and they just hire their white kids.

    Surprised no one (media, minority groups) has made a stink over this (yet). Maybe this one will open people’s eyes to the problem. Not at all surprised the league simply allows it.

  13. dryzzt23 says:
    February 17, 2023 at 8:01 am
    I know people will cry ‘nepotism’ about this. Do those same people cry ‘nepotism’ about the Steelers having 2 sets of brothers on their roster? Nepotism cannot be acceptable only for government, academia, and NFL players but not for NFL or CFB coaches and their staffs or private sector businesses.
    —-
    Couldn’t have chosen a worse analogy. Sports today is the ultimate meritocracy. If you can’t play, you’ll soon be gone. Daboll can hide that kid on his staff until the day he’s fired and fans will never know the difference. Nepotism at its finest.

  14. In a work environment, just like dating people who work for you, this is never a good idea. It happens all of the time in the NFL and corporate America for that matter, but who actually thinks he’s talking to his son the same way he’s talking to and criticizing the special teams coach?

  15. This always makes me laugh when people get outraged by this. But they have no issue at all with a Politician doing something like awarding $400 million to a publishing company for something. And then a year later writing a book and selling it for $250 million to that very same publishing company. People cried when Mike Shanahan got his son a job. And now he is one of the elite coaches in the league. This is a results industry. If you want to hire your unqualified son and you get fired when the whole thing implodes, thats your own business. But thats the thing, the son always ends up being capable of handling the job they were hired to do or they wouldnt have gotten the job. So why do you people care so much about who Brian Daboll hires? To put it another way, if Brain Daboll called up Bill Belichick and asked him to give his son a job, so Bill hired him, it would be the same thing, but none of you would whine about it.

  16. Every time this happens its wrong. No way in hell does this kid deserves to have this job but guess what life isnt fair. Pops is looking to help out his kid. The End

  17. I have to laugh at people getting so upset about this. It’s an entry-level job. He isn’t on the fast track to offensive coordinator. If I’m a manager at a grocery store and I hire my son to be a clerk because I know that he’s conscientious, smart, and responsible, are you all going to picket my store because of all the imaginary “more qualified” candidates out there? Why is it the only candidate you aren’t allowed to hire is the one you know best?

  18. No issue with this at all. There are 32 mandatory NFL offensive assistant positions that must be filled and those positions are only open to minorities or a female. Daboll’s son is not eligible to apply for these positions based solely on being born a white male.
    Every action has a reaction and I’m sure we will see more White Coaches doing the very same thing in order to balance mandatory bias hiring practices that the NFL has now adopted.

  19. Kyle Shanahan is the best coach in the NFL. His dad was one of the best coaches of all time. Some of these kids grow up around football and they have the equivalence of a football PHD by the time they’re 20 years old. Belichick’s dad was a coach. Harbaugh’s dad was a coach. This Daboll kid probably knows more about their offense than any other coach. He’ll be productive from Day 1.

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