The New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as coach on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced. The sides began working on a contract Wednesday night when it became clear that Harbaugh was the right fit.

Harbaugh joins the Giants 11 days after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens, who made the playoffs 12 times with him in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. They fell short of the postseason this year because of a missed kick at the buzzer in Week 18, leading ownership to make an change and put Harbaugh on the market.

General manager Joe Schoen and the Giants pounced, bringing on a proven winner with significant NFL head-coaching experience. Harbaugh was flown in on co-owner Steve Tisch’s private plane earlier this week, spent several hours at the team facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey, spoke with young quarterback Jaxson Dart and got wined and dined at nearby Elia Mediterranean Restaurant.

With the courting process complete, Harbaugh is now tasked with turning around the beleaguered franchise that has made just two playoff appearances over the past 12 years and not made it past the divisional round. Todd Monken could follow him from Baltimore to be offensive coordinator, unless he takes a head-coaching gig in Cleveland or elsewhere.

Harbaugh got the job over the likes of Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce, leapfrogging some of expected front-runners who got shuffled back as soon as the 63-year-old became available. The chance to work for stable ownership and Dart made New York an attractive landing spot over other places such as Tennessee, Atlanta and Miami.

The Giants have talented pieces in place on either side of the ball, including running back Cam Skattebo, receiver Malik Nabers and left tackle Andrew Thomas on offense, plus pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence on defense. They have the fifth pick in the draft to add to that stockpile.

Changing the culture of losing that has pervaded the Meadowlands for the better part of the last decade is now on Harbaugh’s shoulders. Counting playoff games, the seven coaches who followed 2007 and ’11 Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin have gone 45-105-1, a winning percentage of .300.

Harbaugh is 193-124 in 317 games in the league, a .609 winning percentage, since taking over the Ravens in 2008. He spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant with Philadelphia, mostly as special teams coordinator and then defensive backs coach.

Schoen, after finding out from Tisch and co-owner John Mara that he was returning for a fifth year as GM, said the search would not be limited to just offensive- or defensive-minded options. While Harbaugh comes from a special teams background, he provides the kind of all-around coaching Schoen was believed to be looking for, along with a championship pedigree and a reputation that should garner him immediate respect within the locker room.

This is Schoen’s second hire after bringing Brian Daboll with him from Buffalo, where both were assistants with the Bills, in January 2022. Ownership fired Daboll on Nov. 10 after the Giants lost eight of the first 10 games in his fourth season as coach.

Mike Kafka coached out the string as the interim replacement after being promoted from offensive coordinator, and the team lost five in a row before winning its final two games to finish with a 4-13 record. Kafka interviewed but was never a serious candidate for the full-time job.

Almost no one was compared with Harbaugh, giving the Giants an off-field win that might be their biggest of any kind in several years.

Udinski interviews with Browns

Jacksonville offensive coordinator Grant Udinski interviewed with the Cleveland Browns for their head coaching vacancy on Saturday.

Udinski, 30, just completed his first season with the Jaguars. Even though coach Liam Coen called the offensive plays, Udinski directed a unit that was sixth in the league in scoring (27.9 points per game) and 11th in total offense (337.4 points per game). Quarterback Trevor Lawrence accounted for 38 touchdowns (29 passing, nine rushing) as Jacksonville went 13-4 in the regular season and won the AFC South for the first time since 2022. The Jaguars lost to Buffalo in the wild card round last Sunday.

Udinski began his NFL career as a coaching assistant at Carolina (2020-21) before spending three seasons in Minnesota (2022-24). He was an assistant to the head coach/special projects in 2022 with the Vikings before being promoted to assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024.

The Browns are the only team that has conducted or requested an interview with Udinski so far.

Cleveland needs a head coach after it fired Kevin Stefanski on Jan. 5 following six seasons and a 46-58 overall record. Stefanski was a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year and led the Browns to the playoffs in 2020 and ’23.

The Browns have interviewed nine people, including four this week. Former Miami head coach Mike McDaniel interviewed on Monday while Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase went on Friday.

Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Seattle defensive coordinator Aden Durde, Cincinnati offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher and Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken interviewed last week.

Dolphins interview 4 more candidates

The Miami Dolphins continued their search for a new head coach this week, interviewing four more candidates to potentially replace coach Mike McDaniel.

Over the past few days, the Dolphins have interviewed four defensive coordinators: the Los Angeles Rams’ Chris Shula, Jacksonville’s Anthony Campanile, San Francisco’s Robert Saleh and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Jesse Minter.

Minter, who helped the Chargers finish fifth in the league in total defense this season, also interviewed for head coach openings in Atlanta and Cleveland. Baltimore, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Tennessee have also requested interviews.

Saleh is the only one among them with prior head coaching experience, which would be a deviation from the norm for owner Stephen Ross, who has only hired first-time head coaches during his tenure.

Campanile coached Miami’s linebackers from 2020-2023 and has a history with new Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. The two worked together when Campanile led Green Bay’s linebackers in 2024. Sullivan spent 22 seasons with the Packers before being hired as Miami’s GM earlier this month.

The Dolphins began an organizational rebuild after going 7-10 this past season. It was their second consecutive losing season, and they missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

Longtime GM Chris Grier was fired in October, and McDaniel was dismissed earlier this month after four seasons.

The Dolphins have also interviewed Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, former Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski and Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

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