The good, bad, and unrealistic coaching candidates for the New York Giants

The New York Giants fired head coach Ben McAdoo on Monday morning after a 2-10 start in his second season in charge.

This came as no surprise. While the Browns have been the NFL’s worst team, the Giants have been the most embarrassing — and it’s not close. Some of that was beyond McAdoo’s control — like season-ending injuries to Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall — but some of it was his fault, like how he handled the benching of Eli Manning for Geno Smith.

The Giants will have Steve Spagnuolo take over in the interim and they have already said he’s a candidate to fill the position moving forward. However, assuming they’ll have a high draft pick in a big market, the job could be quite attractive to prospective candidates.

Here are our suggestions for the Giants, if they’re looking for help. Based on how their season has gone, they could certainly use it.

The current Lions defensive coordinator has been one of the hottest candidates around for head coach vacancies over the past few seasons. Austin has a reputation for connecting with his players. That’s something the Giants need after the “relationally challenged” McAdoo.

Doug Pederson is in the discussion for Coach of the Year honors, but DeFilippo is the man behind this MVP-caliber season for Carson Wentz. He’s young and only has one season of experience as an offensive coordinator. But hiring a young head coach with limited coordinator experience worked out fine for the Rams with Sean McVay. It might be worth a shot for the Giants, too.

Josh McDaniels’ name brought up in a coaching search? It must be December. At this point, it’s really up to whether he wants to be a head coach again. Things didn’t work out well with his first try in Denver, and how he’s got a cushy job back as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator. But ... how much longer does he want to take ass-chewings from Tom Brady?

This guy wasn’t such a hot name for the coaching carousel when the Patriots defense got torched over the first few weeks of the season. But they haven’t allowed more than 17 points over their last eight games, and now he will be. He’s got experience coaching everything from the offensive line to coordinating the defense, which would help him transition to a head coach’s mindset.

OK sure, a 7-9 season is better than a 2-10 one. But look no further than the development of Jared Goff and Case Keenum into viable NFL starters now that they’re free of Fisher. That alone is proof that nobody needs to hire him for any head coaching job ever again.

The guy with the most boring name in the NFL is also one of the least inspiring candidates for the Giants job. The Giants interviewed the current Bucs defensive coordinator (and former Falcons coach) last time around and settled on McAdoo. They should pass this time, too.

The Giants have already said that Spagnuolo will be a candidate for the full-time gig.

McAdoo’s record as a head coach: 13-15.

Spagnuolo’s record over three seasons as the Rams head coach: 10-38.

This is a bad idea.

Stop dreaming and going to incredible lengths for GRUMORS.

Over a decade ago, Saban tried and failed at the NFL game with the Miami Dolphins. He’s got a dynasty in Tuscaloosa with Alabama, and his team makes the College Football Playoff no matter what. He’d be an intriguing hire, but it’s not happening.

Every year, some team tries to hire Shaw away from Stanford.

But every year Shaw turns down interviews. He’d probably be a good addition to the NFL ranks, but he doesn’t seem terribly interested.

He may not want to leave Michigan, his alma mater. But Harbaugh’s record at the pro level warrants serious consideration. He finished his four seasons with the 49ers with a 44-19-1 record, three straight postseason appearances, and a Super Bowl bid.

Too bad it’s not happening.