Giants officially hire John Harbaugh after 11th-hour 'power struggle'

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Jan 17, 2026

Published in Football

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NEW YORK — This was supposed to be a triumphant moment for the Giants.

And it still will be, to an extent, now that John Harbaugh has signed on the dotted line. The two sides finally made it official mid-afternoon Saturday after a tense 48 hours of back-and-forth negotiation.

But the confirmed “power struggle,” as a source called it, during negotiations of Harbaugh’s contract creates a bad taste entering what was supposed to be a new era for the fallen franchise.

“How hard would it be for you to sign a five-year, $100 million contract?” a source said to the New York Daily News, referencing the underlying problems beneath.

Harbaugh, 63, had all of the leverage and no reason to take a job where he does not have final say.

He did his homework on which areas of the Giants building need gutting or personnel shifts. He looked into which members of the organization are untouchable third rails that have gotten previous coaches fired.

The Giants are not just hiring a man in Harbaugh. They are hiring a program, a way of doing business, a proven blueprint of how to sustain a more competent and steadier football team.

If they want to change, they had to give him everything he wants. If they wanted to prioritize personal relationships and control, he was not the coach for them.

GM Joe Schoen, the man who said “coaches come and go” at his end of season press conference, is at the center of the conversations on how Harbaugh will bring change to the Giants’ structure.

Sources told the Daily News through the Giants’ entire courtship of Harbaugh that they expected the coach would either want Schoen gone or would reduce his power in the Giants’ new structure.

And that is exactly what is happening here:

Harbaugh as the Giants’ coach, will not answer to Schoen. He will have the tiebreaking personnel vote. And ultimately, Schoen will not have any real say at all.

Do not believe the Wizard of Oz-like reports telling everyone to ‘pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’ during this process.

The same people saying this deal was done without a hitch on Wednesday night are the same people now chasing The News’ information that the power dynamic in the Giants’ organization is what created a delay here.

The constant public flood of information about the Giants’ Harbaugh courtship, meanwhile, is another fascinating part of this drama.

League sources are watching this from afar with mouths on the floor, aghast at the “leakiest” possible process for hiring a coach.

And people close to the situation even said that leaks, believed to be from Schoen, prematurely celebrating Harbaugh’s hiring, did not go over well with the old school coach, who believes in one message coming from one building.

So the Giants closed the deal with Harbaugh. They are expected to introduce him at a press conference on Tuesday. And will likely blame the media for creating negative narratives.

That’s the best way to create the best possible optics after the past 48 hours they have had.

But the truth here is that Schoen’s presence has been an impediment to the Giants turning over to a completely new day, and it didn’t have to be this way — but it now is.