By STEPHEN WHYNO and ROB MAADDI AP Sports Writers
John Harbaugh and the New York Giants are working on an agreement to make him the team’s head coach, three people with knowledge of the decision said Thursday.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized. The goal is to “reach the finish line,” one of the people said.
It wasn’t clear if Harbaugh still planned to meet with other teams. One person said the deal was not done but that “barring any setbacks” Harbaugh would become New York’s coach.
Harbaugh interviewed in person with the Giants on Wednesday, spending hours at the team facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Super Bowl-winning former coach of the Baltimore Ravens was believed to be New York’s top candidate in the pursuit of Brian Daboll’s full-time successor.
Fired by the Ravens after they missed the playoffs on a missed field goal attempt at the buzzer in the season finale, Harbaugh is on track to pick the Giants over other possible landing spots, including Tennessee and Atlanta.
The Ravens made the playoffs 12 times during 18 seasons with Harbaugh in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season, a year after the Giants’ most recent championship under Tom Coughlin, who also led them to win it all in ’07. Counting playoff games, the seven coaches who followed Coughlin in the organization have gone 45-105-1: a winning percentage of .300.
General manager Joe Schoen, who’s back for a fifth season running the football operations department, said he would cast a wide net in the coaching search. Interviewing Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule requirements for minority or female candidates, and Harbaugh’s visit to northern New Jersey paved the way to make a hire before any of the more than half-dozen teams with a vacancy.
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