New York Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy confirmed Thursday that he will call plays from the coaching booth upstairs during Sunday night’s season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. After experimenting with both sideline and booth positions during the preseason, Nagy said the elevated vantage point offers a clearer view of the field and a calmer environment for a first-time play-caller.
Nagy Explains Decision to Call Plays from the Booth
“I’m excited about it. I think that I’ve always been down on the field. When I was a quality control coach, I was up in the box for one year,” Nagy said on Thursday. “So, 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.”
Nagy acknowledged the trade-off of losing direct sideline communication but emphasized the benefits of the booth perspective.
“It takes away a little bit of the on the field element of being able to communicate and talk all the time, but there’s a calm in the box,” Nagy said. “And 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 then have the ultimate trust in the staff and being able to see things so that they can communicate to me what they’re seeing. And we’ve got the telephone, too, so I can always jump on the phone with (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) if I need to. But I’m excited about that opportunity.”
Nagy on Building the Giants’ Offensive Identity
Asked about the scheme he is installing, Nagy described an offense rooted in the principles he learned under Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg, then refined in Kansas City and Chicago. He stressed that the 2024 version is uniquely tailored to the current roster.
“What I would say to that is, we talk about, Coach Harbs (Head Coach John Harbaugh) talks about principles and methods and what that means and you can relay that to an offense is, I learned this game through Andy Reid, (former NFL coach) Marty Morningweg when I was in Philadelphia. And I learned that foundation of this offense and that offense for me. Took it to Kansas City, took it to Chicago, and now here I am. And again, this opportunity that I have is a first for me. So, being here to be able to take some of the things that we do as a staff and make it ours, that’s been some of the times for me selfishly, it’s been fun just putting this thing together. So, I’m excited to see how this thing goes this year, because I think you’re going to see it’s our offense. It’s no other offense from prior history. You know, it’s ours.”
Expectations for Rookie Quarterback Jaxson Dart
Nagy outlined a clear directive for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart: play fast, stay confident, and be himself. The offensive coordinator emphasized a game plan built around Dart’s strengths while allowing room for growth through inevitable ups and downs.
“We want Jaxson to be able to play fast. We want him to be himself. He’s a special talent. And it’s our job as coaches to take all this time that we’ve had to do it. And that’s what we’ve put together is a game plan that we think is to his strengths. But at the same point in time too, we got to make sure that there’s going to be times in the game where we just got to let him cut it loose and continue to build every week. This isn’t, there’s going to be good plays, there’s going to be bad plays, but how does he keep that up? It’s going to be an emotional time. Sunday night football against the Cowboys, a lot of emotions going on. He’s a competitor. So, I want him to stay calm, extremely confident, play fast and execute and just be a complete leader, but also just be himself, man. Cut it loose and have fun.”
Dart’s Growth: Confidence and Command of the System
Nagy highlighted Dart’s progress in mastering both run and pass concepts, noting a shift from early frustration to a more assured command of the playbook.
“Probably just the confidence and understanding of the concepts that we’re doing, both run and pass. There was probably some frustration early on because sometimes you don’t know, it’s the first time you’re running a play, you don’t really know the play. And now when we’re out here, he knows the play, he has multiple reps. And so, we can build off of that. We can teach off of that. Now we’ve got to transfer it to the game and some unscouted looks. And so, I think for him, again, his growth, and he’s so mature for being 23 years old and having limited experience in the NFL, super mature, very calm, but he’s really good. So, we got to make sure we use his strengths.”
Odell Beckham Jr. Embraces Veteran Mentor Role
Regarding veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Nagy praised his professionalism and willingness to serve as a conduit between the coaching staff and the rookie quarterback. Beckham has avoided pushing for a larger role, instead focusing on supporting Dart’s development without overwhelming him.
“He hasn’t brought that up at all as far as that part of it, which is probably hard. Odell has come to me at times and we’ve had some good conversations where he’ll almost come to me like I’m the conduit between him and Jaxson because he wants to be careful and gentle with how much he gets in Jaxson’s ear, with how he, he’s played a lot of football. He’s seen a lot of things. And so, what I can do is I can balance some of the questions he has and filter it to Jaxson. And then the other times he goes to Jaxson. But what I find really professional about Odell is that he doesn’t want to put too much on Jaxson’s plate mentally. And I think he’s in a good spot too. You guys see what he can do. He can do a lot of good things, but we also have a lot in this offense and there’s details. So, every now and then, if he screws up an assignment, the biggest thing we say is don’t do it again. And he’s done a good job with that.”
