Jordan RaananSep 10, 2026, 06:00 AM ET
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- John Harbaugh comes to New York as the Giants' fifth head coach in the past 10 years. He arrives with a different set of expectations.

Unlike the rest of the bunch, Harbaugh brings a track record of success. He made the postseason in 15 of his 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. The previous four head coaches in the post-Tom Coughlin era (Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and Brian Daboll) had zero playoff appearances combined as a head coach. Only Shurmur even had NFL head coaching experience.

It has the Giants and the fan base feeling a different type of way entering this season and for the future.

"The way I look at it is we've used the word hope in the last 10 or 12 years or whatever it might be," owner Chris Mara said recently during an interview with Gary Myers on 880 ESPN New York. "The hope now has turned into expectations. At least for me it has. I don't hope we win this year. I expect it. And I think everybody else does, too."

The reality is that McAdoo and Daboll both reached the playoffs in their first season as head coach of the Giants (2016 and 2022, respectively). They failed to match that success at any other point and New York owns a .336 winning percentage since Coughlin was pushed out the door in January, 2016.

Only the New York Jets with a .297 win percentage from 2016 until now have lost more than the Giants during that span.

Harbaugh was brought to New York to change that. It begins on Sunday night when the Giants host the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium (8:20 p.m. ET, CBS).

Presumably, the Giants should be better prepared for the season opener after what one veteran player described as the "hardest training camp of my life." Harbaugh held more practices and they were consistently longer and tougher than Daboll's.

The Giants had 23 practices through Labor Day. Despite starting almost a week earlier, they had 19 last year. The team was in full pads a lot more this year under Harbaugh, as well.

Tight end Isaiah Likely is used to this kind of workload having come with Harbaugh from Baltimore this offseason. He said it was "mind-boggling" to hear from his new teammates how training camp was in the past.

This is Harbaugh's program. He's hoping building a bigger, more physical team pays immediate dividends because the schedule doesn't let Harbaugh's Giants ease into the flow. The Giants face an unusually big game in Week 1 considering they get the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams on the road next Monday night. It makes their matchup in Week 1 with a division rival that has owned them for years that much more critical.

Dallas has won 16 of its past 18 games against the Giants. New York's only two wins have been in Week 18 games.

But nobody seems to be giving Harbaugh the sort of grace periods that new head coaches generally receive. Instead, the rhetoric is to turn it around immediately, even though the Giants won seven games combined the past two seasons.

"I get it from the standpoint of expectations, but of course we expect to win," Harbaugh said. "How do you go out there and compete at this level if you don't expect to win? If you don't expect to win, you certainly aren't going to. I've said this before, we expect and we plan to and we'll be playing to win every single one of our games this year. That's our expectation, that's our plan, that's what we'll be striving for.

"We think we can [win], we believe we can [win], wholeheartedly."

When Harbaugh took the job he said the expectation was to make the playoffs this year. Now, the pressure is on to at least compete for a spot in the postseason. Anything else would seem like a disappointment.

The Giants over/under is 7.5 games, according to DraftKings.

"I feel good about the group that we have and expect us to be competitive week in and week out," general manager Joe Schoen said. "I really like the group, both sides of the ball, special teams. ... And now really, we just got to go out and do it. But I do like the roster, I like where we are. We had a competitive camp. And I'm looking forward to seeing how things go Sunday vs. the Cowboys."

Schoen mentioned this team has a young quarterback in Jaxson Dart, who's in his second year. It has a No. 1 receiver in Malik Nabers, strong offensive line and potentially scary pass rush. That combined with Harbaugh perhaps makes the idea of a quick turnaround feasible.

The Giants players expect improvement. They know the only way to accomplish that is by improving in the win column, finishing with a winning record. Anything else is insufficient.

"I would say it always starts with winning. I have a really hard time being able to look back at something and find something that is a successful product that didn't win," Dart said. "So from a perspective of always putting the team first, winning comes first and I want to be able to see that growth from what our team was last year to this year. ... I think that this team is shaking out to be wanting to do something special. So that's what I'm excited to try to build on."

Dart flashed enough in his rookie year to provide hope. He accounted for 24 touchdowns and seven turnovers as a rookie. If he can stay on the field, there is enough tangible evidence to believe he can be a high-level quarterback.

Harbaugh has already proven he can be a high-level coach. He has a Super Bowl win on his resume. When you have a quarterback and a coach, it gives you a chance. When you have a No. 1 receiver like Nabers returning from injury it helps.

Cornerback Greg Newsome II even boasted that he believes the Giants have the "best cornerback room in the league" despite almost the entire group coming off down seasons. That is when you realize it's time to show it on the field.

"I feel like this is a great, talented roster from all points -- from the offensive line, skill positions, from defense to offense, and I feel like every day we get each other better," Likely said. "I can come here and gloat as much as I want to about the team, but like you said, Week 1 is next week. We've got to prove it."

Big things expected from John Harbaugh's Giants

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