Giants' John Harbaugh stresses toughness, wants club to be aggressive and physical

John Harbaugh  wasted little time stating his intentions during his introduction on Tuesday. If the Giants are to improve, it’s about being black and blue more than just being blue collar.

It’s fitting that those are two of the colors associated with his former and current team. Harbaugh’s Ravens won the most when they battered teams with defense and a strong ground game. These Giants will have to follow that same rugged path for Harbaugh to lead them away from their struggles of the last decade.

“It starts with building a team that is physical and tough that’s capable of overwhelming their opponent from beginning to end, and especially at the end,” Harbaugh said. “That understands how to finish, that is smart and disciplined, that plays the game the way it should be played, and that everybody watching it, including those playing it, would be proud of.”

That ethos is needed in the locker room. A glaring moment from the 2025 season: The 49ers ran the ball on all but two plays in the fourth quarter against the Giants. It was a team wilting from being worn down by a tougher team.

There’s also the defining stat of the Giants’ inability to close games. They had five losses in games in which they led in the fourth quarter and tied an NFL record with five losses in games in which they led by at least 10 points, according to ESPN.

It’s no secret the Giants need a change of heart next season. The Ravens were known for toughness and aggressiveness, and former Giants coach Tom Coughlin gave Harbaugh credit for that when he recalled his two matchups against the Giants’ new coach.

“His teams play hard. They play physical, they get after it,” Coughlin said on the “Giants Huddle” podcast. “They’re nasty. You know that type of thing. It’s the way the game was meant to be played.”

What that looks like comes in many shapes. The Ravens, for example, were fifth in the percentage of plays that used 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends). That suggests the Giants could deploy more fullbacks in the running game.

The Giants did it sparingly with defensive lineman Elijah Chatman the last two seasons, but Harbaugh could be looking to one of his former players. Ravens All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard, who was voted to his sixth Pro Bowl, is an upcoming free agent.

There’s also an already strong pass rush led by Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter. What’s missing is the inside linebacker play Harbaugh’s teams were known for along with playmakers in the secondary.

But mostly it’s about mental toughness. That, along with execution, has been lacking in a team that has gone 7-27 the last two seasons and has made the playoffs only twice since 2011.

It’s why receiver Darius Slayton wanted a coach who was “Coughlin-esque.” The seven-year veteran wanted to go back to a style that brought the Giants their most recent success.

“I think you need to have a certain disposition to get the job done effectively,” said Slayton, the Giants’ longest-tenured player along with Lawrence. “And I feel like [Coughlin] probably embodies a lot of the qualities that we require now.”

If anything, the Harbaugh way of toughness is a trip down memory lane for what the Giants used to be known for. The old ways must be new again if Harbaugh is to fix the team  he’s now in charge of leading.

It’s what he expects, and the Giants will have to work on showing they can build a tougher, more aggressive identity for this new chapter to be better than the last ones.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.