The New York Giants are bringing in a familiar name with deep ties to one of the NFL’s most successful coaching trees. Matt Nagy, fresh off his latest stint as offensive coordinator in Kansas City, is set to take over the same role in New York under newly hired head coach John Harbaugh.
For Nagy, this marks a new chapter - and a rare one. Outside of his four-year run as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, every stop on his coaching journey has been under the watchful eye of Andy Reid.
That changes now, but not entirely. Harbaugh himself is a Reid disciple, so while Nagy is branching out, he’s still operating within the broader ecosystem of the Reid coaching lineage.
This pairing is a long time coming. Harbaugh got his NFL start coordinating special teams for the Eagles in 1998, the final year of Ray Rhodes’ tenure.
Reid came in the following season and retained Harbaugh, who would stay on staff until he landed the Ravens’ head coaching job in 2008. That same year, Nagy began his coaching career as an intern in Philadelphia - just missing Harbaugh by a season.
Now, nearly two decades later, they’ll work side by side to try and revitalize a Giants team that’s been searching for offensive consistency.
One storyline to watch closely: how much of Kansas City’s offensive brain trust might follow Nagy to New York. The Reid coaching tree is famously tight-knit, and there are several assistants in Kansas City with longstanding ties to both Nagy and former coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who recently reclaimed the OC role with the Chiefs.
Among those names is offensive line coach Andy Heck, the only offensive assistant Bieniemy publicly mentioned as returning for 2025. That leaves the door open for potential movement elsewhere on the staff.
Pass-game coordinator Joe Bleymaier is another name to keep an eye on. He’s been with the Chiefs since 2016, starting in quality control before coaching wide receivers during Bieniemy’s early run as OC. Under Nagy, he shifted into his current role and has been instrumental in shaping Kansas City’s aerial attack.
Quarterbacks coach David Girardi also has deep roots with the Chiefs, coming aboard in 2018 - the same year Bieniemy first took over as coordinator. He’s grown within the system, earning a promotion to QB coach when Nagy was brought back as OC in 2023.
Then there’s Dan Williams, the assistant quarterbacks coach, who’s been climbing the Chiefs’ coaching ladder since 2019. He began as a coaching intern, then spent two seasons as the assistant to the head coach before taking on his current role just ahead of the 2023 season.
For Nagy, the move to New York is more than just a new job - it’s a chance to put his own stamp on an offense without the direct influence of Reid for the first time in his career. But with Harbaugh at the helm and the potential for some familiar faces to join him, he’s not exactly venturing into uncharted waters. The Giants are betting that this blend of continuity and fresh perspective is the formula they need to finally get their offense on track.