Brian Daboll of the Giants is said to have displayed a different demeanor during staff unrest.

With the departure of former defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale in January, spring training exercises for the New York Giants have apparently revealed new coach Brian Daboll to have a somewhat different attitude.

“In this same offseason program recap a year ago, it was noted that ‘Daboll had one of his patented red-faced explosions at almost every open practice this spring,'” Dan Duggan of The Athletic wrote an article that was released on Friday. “There were no such eruptions, which were typically aimed at assistants for personnel miscues last year, during the five practices open to the media this spring.”

This past season, assistants like Martindale and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka reportedly became agitated due to Daboll’s alleged “madman” behavior on game days. In February, it was claimed that “there was absolutely tension” between Daboll and Kafka after Kafka “had his play-calling revoked at points last season.” Martindale offered his resignation following Daboll’s firing of assistants who were reportedly close to the well-known coordinator.

According to reports, the Giants denied Kafka an interview this winter for the position of offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks, and they later promoted him to assistant head coach. There was “no tension between Mike and Dabs,” as general manager Joe Schoen stated in February. During mandatory minicamp, Daboll explained why that might have been the case.

“I’ve been obviously calling some of the plays, there’s an element of that,” Daboll stated.

For the upcoming season, Duggan stated that “it’s obvious Daboll” will be in charge of offensive play-calling rather than Kafka. “That Daboll will be the new play-caller on offense this season is not even a secret anymore,” wrote Paul Schwartz of the New York Post on Wednesday.

Giants co-owner John Mara expressed his preference for Daboll to “tone it down a little bit,” while Daboll admitted in March that there were moments he wished he had “handled things a little bit differently.” If the Giants perform as badly as many predict, it remains to be known how Daboll will respond on the sidelines this autumn.

DraftKings Sportsbook had the Giants’ 2024 season’s over/under win total set at 6.5 as of Friday afternoon. If Daboll has a lost season for the second time in a row, Mara may get in touch with Bill Belichick, the former head coach of the New England Patriots, if he is sincere about going back to the team that he played for from 1979 to 1990.