John Harbaugh is about to complete his first week as the Giants’ new head coach, and as promised, he is making some changes in New York.
Outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen and tight ends coach Tim Kelly are the only two members of Brian Daboll‘s staff that will retain their jobs under Harbaugh, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
Bullen was hired before the 2024 season and served as the team’s interim defensive coordinator for the last four games of the 2025 season. His position group has arguably been the best part of the Giants’ defense over the last two years.
Brian Burns, Azeez Ojulari, and Kayvon Thibodeaux combined for 20 sacks and 32 tackles for loss in 2024; Burns put up 16.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss on his own this past season. Bullen also put together a decent defensive showing to end the season. His debut was a rough 33-15 loss to the Patriots, but after a Week 14 bye, the Giants allowed only 72 points and forced eight turnovers in their last four games.
Kelly also arrived in New York in 2024. He has not gotten much out of the Giants’ tight ends, though both Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger both took a step forward this past season. Kelly’s pre-Giants coaching career is not especially encouraging, either. Harbaugh may have preferred to hire George Godsey, his former tight ends coach in Baltimore, but Godsey already took a job as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator.
Harbaugh will be bringing other members of his previous staff to New York. The Ravens initially blocked a lateral move for special teams coordinator Chris Horton, but reversed course after hiring Jesse Minter. They are also letting running backs coach Willie Taggart follow Harbaugh, per Ian O’Connor of The Athletic.
Taggart’s role with the Giants is not yet known. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator job, but that is still expected to go to Harbaugh’s most recent OC in Baltimore, Todd Monken. Monken is still a candidate for the Browns’ head coaching job, but if he does not get it, he will immediately join Harbaugh’s staff in New York, according to SNY’s Connor Hughes.
Monken completing the expected Maryland-to-New York trek would only leave Taggart available for a lateral move, which the Ravens would have to permit. Given that Taggart’s hiring was reported before the Giants made their OC hire – and after Minter was hired – Baltimore seems to have allowed him to leave.
The same appears to be true of defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, who is also among Harbaugh’s initial hires, per KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. He spent the last two years in Baltimore and played a key role in developing Travis Jones, though he could not get enough out of the rest of the unit in 2025 after Nnamdi Madubuike‘s season-ending injury. News of Johnson’s move to New York also came after the Ravens officially brought Minter aboard, indicating that he wanted to go in a different direction at the position.
Harbaugh could also be considering a much bigger reunion with a former Ravens coach: Rex Ryan.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” Harbaugh said on WFAN after being asked about hiring his former defensive coordinator (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). “A guy like Rex, he’s around the game, he knows the game. He’s going to have to get updated a little bit with some of the scheme stuff, but I’ll tell you, no one calls a better game than Rex Ryan.”
Bringing the former Jets and Bills head coach back to the NFL would be a major swing on Harbaugh’s part, especially if he hired him as the Giants’ defensive coordinator. That job would come with play-calling duties, a tall task after a decade away from coaching.
Still, Ryan has interviewed for jobs in each of the last three hiring cycles. He was a finalist for the Broncos’ DC gig in 2023, interviewed for the same job with the Cowboys in 2024, and managed to insert himself in the Jets’ head coach search last offseason. He no doubt would jump at the opportunity to return to the league, especially under a former longtime colleague like Harbaugh.