WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — When John Harbaugh got the call from Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti while driving home from the team’s training facility on Jan. 6 — and learned that his key card was being revoked — he experienced the disorienting shock that often accompanies such moments.Fired after 18 seasons as the Ravens’ coach, an event set in motion two nights earlier when a rookie kicker shanked a field goal that would have clinched the franchise’s seventh AFC North title and 13th playoff appearance of his tenure, Harbaugh was overcome with angst and uncertainty about his future.It was a sobering sensation — and it lasted about as long as the first quarter of an NFL game.Within 45 minutes, seven teams — more than one of which hadn’t yet fired its current coach — had reached out to Harbaugh’s agent, Bryan Harlan, to inquire about his availability. That list would grow to at least nine teams in the coming days. By the time Harbaugh signed a five-year, $100 million contract to coach the New York Giants on Jan. 17, he carried himself with the breezy swagger of a man who’d been led to the edge of the cavernous fire pit, only to realize he had celestial wings.Seven months later, Harbaugh’s unbothered aura has only gotten stronger. And everyone associated with the Giants, an organization mired in a decade-and-a-half-long recession, is vibing off the 63-year-old coach’s confident and commanding presence.He fully expects to make the Giants better from the jump, and I’m convinced he’s correct.Giants conclude training camp in West VirginiaDan Duggan“I feel really great about the situation, and I feel loose,” Harbaugh told me after a recent practice at the Greenbrier Resort’s Sports Performance Center, where the Giants spent the first two weeks of training camp. “You know, they tell the Marine snipers, ‘Stay loose, stay focused.’ You’ve got to be both. You can’t be focused and tight, and you can’t be loose and undisciplined.”As Harbaugh quickly clarified, those snipers confront stakes far more serious than anything the sport of football can throw at a head coach.“This is different,” he noted. “It should be easy to do it here.”Reminding Giants players and coworkers that trying to win football games isn’t a “life or death” matter has been a frequent Harbaugh theme since he made the trip up the Eastern seaboard.Sometimes, that messaging isn’t subtle. In June, I sat with Harbaugh on one of the buses transporting players, coaches and staff from the Giants’ training facility in East Rutherford, N.J., to Lower Manhattan for an unannounced trip to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. As we rolled through midtown, we could hardly believe that a quarter century had passed since the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.“This will be really heavy,” Harbaugh said, “especially for the guys who don’t remember it — or who weren’t born yet.”It was also illuminating and inspirational, partly because of the coach who led the team’s trip to the site of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history. When the players gathered in an auditorium to begin the visit, Harbaugh’s command of the room was pronounced. Put it this way: All eyes were on him as he spoke, and not a single cell phone surfaced as he stood onstage.While plenty of outsiders have attempted to clown him over a snippet of the speech he gave at the start of OTAs this spring, which went viral after the Giants shared it on social media, Harbaugh’s message is resonating with the people who actually matter.“He pulls the best out of everybody,” second-year edge rusher Abdul Carter told me earlier this month.Carter and his teammates are all ears, which is understandable. Coming off a 4-13 season in 2025 and a 3-14 campaign in ’24, the Giants — with one playoff victory and two postseason appearances since the 2011 season, when they captured their fourth Lombardi Trophy — have basically become the New York Jets with less bluster.As one Giants source who interacts daily with the men in uniform put it, “These players were starving for direction. Now they have it.” The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss team matters candidly.Since two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Coughlin stepped down after the 2015 season, the Giants have had a succession of head coaches (Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll) who were neither successful nor — based on the accounts of their coworkers — particularly captivating.Harbaugh, who has won a Super Bowl and an NFL-record eight road playoff games, has the chops to generate buy-in from his players. And the way he speaks to them, as someone who knows exactly what he wants but isn’t consumed with flexing his own power, has resonated from the start.“A lot of it comes down to accountability and vulnerability,” said Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, one of two former NFL head coaches (along with quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan) on Harbaugh’s staff. “Harbs demands accountability from everyone, including himself. He’s also very vulnerable in a positive way, which everyone appreciates more than you can imagine. He’s vulnerable with extreme confidence in who he is and how he leads.”Already, Harbaugh has had to navigate some internal tension, including star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence’s contract-related trade request (he was eventually dealt to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft) and Carter’s public criticism of teammate Jaxson Dart after the second-year quarterback introduced President Donald Trump at a rally.John Harbaugh’s 180 regular-season wins have given him credibility among the success-starved Giants. (Ben Queen / Imagn Images)Inside the building, none of it felt that jolting. Among his peers, Harbaugh, while projecting authority, has always stood out for his willingness to tolerate self-expression and big personalities amid the pursuit of a common goal.As I reported in 2012, a Ravens team meeting that fall became so charged with player complaints, coming “very close to getting out of control,” that some witnesses were stunned. Harbaugh managed to hear out his critics, get control of the situation and convince everyone to move forward as a team.Three months later, the Ravens won the Super Bowl.I’m not saying these Giants will trigger a sequel to the Knicks’ ticker-tape parade come February, but I would be shocked if they’re not appreciably more competitive in 2026 — and on the road to bigger and better things.There is cause for anticipatory excitement. New York’s defensive front, with a trio of talented edge rushers in Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux — and a fourth, No. 5 pick Arvell Reese, playing inside linebacker — has the potential to swallow up opponents. Dart, coming off a promising rookie season, will attempt to level up behind a strong offensive line and with a new target (tight end Isaiah Likely, poached from the Ravens via free agency) who should serve as a security blanket.Dart and his teammates should also find plenty of comfort in looking to the sidelines and seeing a coach who ranks in the top 15 in regular-season victories (180) and top 10 in postseason triumphs (13). When your leader is that accomplished — and carries himself like a man who believes his plan will work — it’s hard not to put your head down and try as hard as you can to bring it to life.Think Phil Jackson coming back to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005, or the Houston Astros hiring Dusty Baker in 2020, or Sean Payton taking over the Denver Broncos three seasons ago. When a true pro enters the building and lays out his vision, it tends to be eye-opening.Before too long, I expect we’ll all be able to see the difference.