A Mediterranean restaurant in New Jersey was the location for the crucial dinner that helped the New York Giants land John Harbaugh as the franchise’s next head coach.
It was announced overnight on Wednesday that they had won the race to sign the most impressive candidate currently available in the NFL after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens.
Harbaugh is expected to sign a five-year contract worth almost $100million with the Giants. He will be one of the best-paid coaches in the league again as he aims to turn the ailing franchise around.
The 63-year-old interviewed in person with the Giants on Wednesday, spending hours at the team facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He was flown in on the private jet of part-owner Steve Tisch.
Then he was treated to a delicious dinner at Elia, a restaurant the Giants have used a number of times to get major deals over the line, where general manager Joe Schoen and owner Chris Mara made their final pitch to the Super Bowl winner.
‘When Joe walked in, you knew the deal was going to go down,’ owner Tim Salouros told The New York Post.
John Harbaugh (center) and GM Joe Schoen negotiated his Giants deal at a restaurant in New Jersey on Wednesday night
Harbaugh was treated to a delicious dinner at Elia, a restaurant the Giants have used before
‘It was the first time that they called me to tell me the timing. They told me he had to be on a flight at 7:30. Before coach left, he said, “I’ll be back”.’
The trio were sat in the restaurant’s private dining room, located in the building’s old wine cellar.
‘Coach veered to Chris Mara to order first and Chris goes, “You are the honorary guy here. You order first”,’ Salouros continued.
‘We had pan-roasted Alaskan halibut filet over spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, crab meat and yellow romesco sauce. Once he ordered that, Chris said, “I’ll have what coach is having”.
‘And they had all the traditional apps – the octopus, the chips, the salad, the tuna tartar – that we are known for.’
A picture emerged on Elia’s Instagram account on Thursday morning in the hours after news broke that a deal with Harbaugh was imminent.
They captioned the post: ‘Congratulations to John Harbaugh on becoming the new Head Coach of the New York Giants. Wishing you nothing but success in this next chapter. Thank you to the entire New York Giants organization for always including us as part of the process — it truly means a lot.’
The Super Bowl-winning former coach of the Ravens was believed to be New York’s top candidate in the search for Brian Daboll’s full-time successor.
Fired by the Ravens after missing the playoffs on a missed field goal attempt at the buzzer in the season finale, Harbaugh is on track to pick the Giants over other possible landing spots, including Tennessee and Atlanta.
Harbaugh is going to sign a five-year contract worth nearly $100million with the Giants
Harbaugh will work with one of the NFL’s most exciting young quarterbacks in Jaxson Dart
The Ravens made the playoffs 12 times during 18 seasons with Harbaugh in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season, a year after the Giants’ most recent championship.
General manager Joe Schoen, who’s back for a fifth season running the football operations department, said he would cast a wide net in the coaching search.
Interviewing Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule requirements for minority or female candidates, and Harbaugh’s visit to northern New Jersey paved the way to make a hire before any of the more than half-dozen teams with a vacancy.
Young Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, one of the biggest draws for New York coming off his impressive rookie season, was reportedly involved in meetings with Harbaugh.
Dart threw for 15 touchdowns and ran for nine more in 12 starts. He forms the heart of a youthful offense that also includes wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo.
The Giants are coming off a 4-13 season that cost coach Daboll his job 10 weeks into the season. He was replaced on an interim basis by offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who went just 2-5.
