Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants offense may not know whether Malik Nabers will play or not, as the star wideout confirmed that the decision is up to him. However, they do know who will be calling the offensive plays against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, and it won’t be John Harbaugh. Instead, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will do the honors—and bear the burden, as well.
Not only will Nagy call Dart and the Giants’ offensive plays in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season against the Cowboys, he will hold the play sheet throughout the year. It’s not too surprising considering Harbaugh isn’t typically a play-caller.
However, Nagy did have a surprise of his own. Contrary to what he’s done for most of his career, the Giants‘ offensive coordinator won’t be on the sidelines at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night. Instead, he will be watching—and calling the shots—from upstairs.
“I am [calling the plays], I’m going to be up in the box,” Nagy admitted during a press conference on Thursday. “I’m excited about it. I’ve always been down on the field. I wanted to experiment with that in the preseason and I was able to do that. I really liked it, you can see a lot more from up there. It takes away a little bit of the on-the-field element of being able to communicate all the time. But there’s a calm in the box.”
Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator of the Giants.
Nagy’s play-calling history
Indeed, Harbaugh hasn’t been one to call the plays often throughout his NFL career. That was a big tell on Nagy’s responsibility with New York, but fans still needed to hear confirmation. During his stint as offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, Nagy designed many of the plays that helped Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowls, but he didn’t call them during games. Head coach Andy Reid did that.
During his lone tenure as an NFL head coach, Nagy started off as the Chicago Bears’ play-caller, but he gave up those duties midway through his third year on the job (2020 season). During the 2021 NFL season, he was on and off as the Bears’ play-caller.
Thus, Nagy’s last game as pure play-caller was on Nov. 8, 2020, when Nagy’s Bears were shut out for three quarters by Mike Vrabel’s Tennessee Titans and ended up losing 24-17. Nagy has called plays during games since, but on an inconsistent basis. For his grand opening, return act, Nagy will employ a different method, abandoning his post on the sideline and setting up shop in the sky in a booth.
Different experience in the booth
Being in a booth has its fair share of pros and cons. Nagy understands that, and he voiced a confident statement ahead of his first true game-day experience away from the noise and emotion-fueled atmosphere at ground level.
“For me, first time in this role as a play-caller OC, being up in that box I just feel like I can see things a lot better and have the ultimate trust in the staff and being able to see things they can communicate to me. We got the telephone, too, so I can always jump on the phone with Jaxson [Dart] if I need to,” Nagy stated.
If need be, Nagy can always bring Dart to the sideline and have a heart-to-heart talk over the phone. It’s not the same, and it never is, but it can also take away some of the drama, as the Giants will have their every move watched and scrutinized on Sunday night. A discussion between Dart and Nagy would fill newspapers from sea to shining sea, so it may be best to save that for a phone call and later inside the locker room.
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