The Giants close out 2022 knowing who their head coach will be in 2023. This is not exactly breaking news, but it is also should not be taken for granted.

Brian Daboll has been everything the franchise hoped he would be in his first year, and in many ways, has delivered far more than the organization expected. The Giants are on the verge of claiming their first playoff berth in six years, an achievement very few people — perhaps no one — inside the building anticipated arriving so early in Daboll’s tenure.

It is always a risk when a team hires someone without any previous NFL head coach experience. The risk increases when the new hire has never before been a head coach at any level. The Giants appreciated that Daboll presented a varied and extensive resume — 22 years in the NFL, working for six different franchises, including two separate stints seven years apart with the Patriots — and at 47 years old, he was not one of these early-30s whiz-kid coordinators emerging as the hottest coaching-candidate flavor of the month. If ever a former coaching staff grunt, position coach and coordinator earned his way up the ranks to gain one of the coveted 32 NFL head coach jobs, Daboll was it. And yet, Daboll never had directed his own team.

Daboll was one of five first-time head coaches hired in the 2022 cycle, along with Matt Eberflus (Bears), Nathaniel Hackett (Broncos), Mike McDaniel (Dolphins) and Kevin O’Connell (Vikings).