Brian Daboll’s Ouster Offers Reminder Of Stability With Aaron Boone And The New York Yankees

Aaron Boone was formally introduced as manager the Yankees on Dec. 6, 2017. In terms of coaching and managerial turnover in pro sports, especially with the other New York area teams his introductory press conference might seem like it occurred 20 years ago.

The topic of Boone being the longest-tenured coach or manager of any of this area’s pro teams appears when another team makes a change.

The latest occurred Monday when the New York Giants realized there was nothing to gain by keeping Brian Daboll around and fired the embattled coach after a collapse to the Chicago Bears dropped the New York area’s second-oldest franchise to 2-8.

When Boone took over after Joe Girardi lasted 10 seasons and won a World Series two years into succeeding Joe Torre in 2009, the Yankees were coming off a surprising run to Game 7 of the ALCS where they lost to the Houston Astros, who were later revealed to be cheating with an elaborate sign-stealing scheme.

Boone is only the fourth manager for the Yankees since the 1991 season after a nearly two-decade run of the Yankees changing managers so often they employed Billy Martin five times and even went through three managers in 1982.

When Mike Kafka coaches next week against the Green Bay Packers, the former Northwestern quarterback will be the sixth different coach for the Giants since Boone’s hiring. Combining the other nine pro teams in the NFL, NBA , NHL and baseball, he is the 37th different person to coach or manage a game.

Boone was hired a little over a month after the Mets thought they found a long-term successor to Terry Collins, someone whom two years earlier piloted them to a second-half surge and the club’s first World Series appearance since 2000. Callaway lasted two seasons with his last game being decided by Dom Smith hitting a game-ending three homer to wrap up an 86-76 season after a 77-win debut before later massively inappropriate actions led him to be banned from the sport.

Luis Rojas got two years, Buck Showalter had a fun 2022 until losing the NL East and the wild-card series and when the Mets cratered the following season, he was asked to go. Former Yankees’ bench coach Carlos Mendoza completed his second season with the Mets collapsing due to pitching woes a year after surprisingly getting to Game 6 of the NLCS.

As for the other teams at the time of Boone’s hiring, the Giants were coming off Geno Smith starting for Eli Manning in a loss to the Raiders. They dropped to 2-11 with a 30-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the next day Ben McAdoo was sacked and replaced on an interim basis by current Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Hours after Boone was introduced, Jeff Horneck coached the Knicks to a 99-88 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden, putting his record at 12-12. Those Knicks started 17-14 but went 12-39 the rest of the way, resulting in David Fizdale becoming the next man up.

Fizdale and the Knicks endured a 17-win season where they attempted to clear salary cap space for Durant. After the Knicks lost 18 of 22 in 2019-20, Fizdale was gone and Mike Miller’s interim stint ended when the league was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tom Thibodeau joined the Knicks in 2020 and led them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. After a step back in 2021-22, consecutive second round appearances followed before the Knicks won 51 games, upset the Celtics in the second round before losing in the conference finals.

Shortly afterwards, Thibodeau was out and eventually Mike Brown brought in. Thibodeau was the first Knicks’ coach to last for at least five seasons since Jeff Van Gundy but things like playing his starters too often may have caused his downfall.

On the same day as Boone’s introductory press conference, Kenny Atkinson was leading practice for the Nets ahead of two games in Mexico City. The Nets lost 14 of their first 23 games in a 28-win season but won 42 in 2018-19 in one of more fun seasons in their history but one that enabled them to sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. By March 2020, Durant and Irving were still there but Atkinson was not.

Steve Nash followed and got the Nets to Game 7 of the second round and a 44-win season marred by Durant’s knee injury. When the Nets started slowly in 2022 and became embroiled in controversy with Irving, Nash was shown the door and replaced by Jacque Vaughn.

Vaughn finished out a 45-win season noted for trading Durant and Irving but was asked to leave after 54 games the following season. After the Nets played out the string, Jordi Fernandez was hired and once Mikal Bridges, a massive rebuild was on and even more emphasized for this season.

When Boone was introduced, Todd Bowles was in his third season coaching the Jets and preparing his team for a 23-0 loss at Denver that started a four-game losing streak and resulted in a 5-11 record. After 2018 did not go well, Adam Gase succeeded Bowles, who since won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Robert Saleh joined up in 2021 for three full seasons which included the addition of Aaron Rodgers. After Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1, he was healthy in 2024 but the Jets were mediocre and Saleh was gone after Week 5 and the job eventually went to former cornerback Aaron Glenn.

On the hockey front, the Rangers are on their fourth coach since Boone’s introduction. They were about two months away from former GM Jeff Gorton sending a letter to fans about rebuilding. The Rangers reached the conference finals under first-year coach Gerard Gallant and Peter Laviolette but both were gone after the second season did not end as well and now Mike Sullivan is guiding a team struggling to win at home until Monday.

Roy joined the Islanders 46 games into the 2023-24 season after Lane Lambert got one full season following Barry Trotz’s successful run that resulted in consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals. The verdict is out on what the Islanders will do but they did get top overall pick Matthew Schaefer and just earned consecutive road wins over the Rangers and Devils.

In New Jersey, Sheldon Keefe took over shortly after being fired by the Maple Leafs. Lindy Ruff guided the Devils to 112 points in 2022-23 but the following year he was gone after three-plus seasons. Keefe notched 91 points in his debut and has the Devils off to a strong start as they attempt to get past the second round for the first time since 2012.

While Boone often gets calls for his job when the Yankees fall short, he is the only one of the current coaches and managers to play for a championship. He also presided over two other teams with a chance to win the World Series and in an area without a championship since the Giants won it all in 2012, Boone has come the closest even if it ended with a massive collapse in Game 5.

Most of the other managers and coaches have rarely approached those things, which might account for the turnover amongst team leaders since Dec. 6, 2017.