No matter where Mike Kafka lands at the end of the 2025 season, he'll likely tip his cap to Andy Reid.
Kafka has one game remaining on the schedule in his present role as interim head coach for the New York Giants. From there, it's anyone's guess as to where Kafka will land. It's one of the more interesting subplots to follow in the greater head coaching carousel to come following the completion of Week 18 due to Kafka's phenom label layered with the Giants' middling offensive metrics.
The Giants canned head coach Brian Daboll after Week 10, handing the keys for the rest of 2025's run to Kafka, who was Daboll's offensive coordinator. The Giants were 2-8 before Daboll's firing and they needed seven weeks under Kakfa to find their first victory there—a Week 17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in an important game to determine the league's worst overall record.
Nothing is guaranteed this offseason for anyone in New York. That goes for general manager Joe Schoen as well. But the latest reports have the Giants already well into their search for their future head coach at this point, and that includes giving Kafka a real chance at the gig.
Kafka will reportedly get an interview for the job, but it's hard to imagine that Schoen, if he's on the hot seat, wants to pin his hopes on one of the guys who were a part of the mess in the first place. Names like former Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo have also been mentioned in rumors.
Mike Kafka's future will be an interesting subplot to follow as the head coaching carousel begins to spin after Week 18.
If Kafka is set free, it will be interesting to see how he's treated in the coaching rumor mill. Just a year ago, he earned a head coaching interview with the Chicago Bears before the team went with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. It makesk sense that at least one team would look at him as a potential head coach should the Giants let him walk.
Then again, a 3-win season (for now) leaves a stain, and perhaps Kafka will need to accept a lateral move to wipe it off. That's where the Kansas City Chiefs come in. Matt Nagy has reportedly come to the end of his contract with the Chiefs as offensive coordinator, and the same rumor mill has him as a lead consideration for the Tennessee Titans head coach opening.
It feels like a safe bet to say the Chiefs would look at Kafka if there was an opening, since he served s the team's quarterbacks coach before joining the Giants in the first place. The chance to work alongside Patrick Mahomes might also help Kafka forget some of his bad experiences in the Big Apple.
Kafka began his coaching career as a grad assistant at Northwestern before Reid invited him to join the Chiefs in 2017. From there, he would remain with the team for a half decade and climbed the ranks to become QB coach and passing game coordinator in 2020-21. Kafka had previous played for Reid when he was head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010-11.