For a brief moment, John Harbaugh seemed to forget that he was dressed in a well-tailored navy blue suit and speaking at a lectern as cameras flashed in his face without a football in sight.
In that moment, Harbaugh skipped past his introduction Tuesday as Giants head coach to a future day this spring on the practice field when he is looking into the eyes of his players and providing motivation.
“[When] you say you do the best you can with it every single day, that means a lot,” Harbaugh said. “Are we really doing our best? Are we really putting everything we have into it for this day? Are we really attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind? Is that possible? Can we have the best meeting and the best practice in the history of the National Football League? We can if we decide to, right, guys?”
“Yes, sir,” came the chorus from the back of the field house where about a dozen players — mostly offensive linemen — stood at attention.
It was a taste of what the Giants are getting for $100 million over the next five years: a CEO-style head coach with a Super Bowl ring and the 14th-most regular-season victories in NFL history. A level of instant respect and credibility at home and around the league.
“I wanted this job,” Harbaugh said exactly two weeks after he was fired to end his 18-year tenure with the Ravens. “To be on the biggest stage in the biggest sport, I know the challenges. I understand the expectations. I know the fans are hungry for a winner. We’re here with one mission: To earn the right to be called the world champions in New York, and that’s what we plan to do.”
Chris Mara, a personnel executive and co-owner acting on behalf of his cancer-stricken older brother John, initiated an all-out blitz to recruit Harbaugh by visiting him at his home. They had never met, but former Giants coach Tom Coughlin arranged the meeting.
“My emotions were, ‘Let’s get it done,’ ” Chris said, “because John was really high on Harbaugh. I knew that’s who he wanted.”
The Giants and Harbaugh reached a handshake agreement last Wednesday, celebrated over steaks, fish and red wine at Elia Mediterranean in East Rutherford, and then needed nearly 72 hours to hammer out the terms of a contract.
Harbaugh, who ranks among the NFL’s highest-paid and most powerful coaches, was called the “most important cog in the wheel” of personnel decisions by Chris Mara. He will be reporting directly to ownership instead of the traditional Giants hierarchy of coach to GM to owner.
“We were able to get who I think is the best candidate that was available,” general manager Joe Schoen said. “If a John Harbaugh comes available, that it’s an attractive enough job that he would want to come … I do think we do have a good, young nucleus here where we’ll be competitive next year.”
The long wait only enhanced the optimistic sense of a new day that filled the field house more than 240 chairs and the large presences of players Jameis Winston, Tyrone Tracy Jr., John Michael Schmitz Jr., Chris Manhertz, Greg Van Roten, Jon Runyan Jr., Marcus Mbow and Casey Kreiter ever could.
“I love my new coach, man,” Tracy told The Post. “He understands what it takes to win, that’s evident. You can check his tape. And I think that when he comes in, he commands the room and he knows how to be a leader of men. I think that’s really the main thing for a good football coach.”
Harbaugh’s challenge is to replicate the successful program he saw Andy Reid build with the Eagles as an assistant from 1998-2007 and then built himself with the Ravens. So, he called Reid — a three-time Super Bowl winner with the Chiefs after he was stunningly fired by the Eagles in 2013 — for advice.
“His four words to me were: Change can be good,” Harbaugh said. “He’s fired up for us. How about we do this? We’ll sign up for that deal right now — what he did in Kansas City. Let’s do that.”
Sure, the Giants would love to add to their four Lombardi Trophies.
But, for now, the mission is to emerge from the dregs of the NFL’s second-worst record since 2023, since 2017 and since 2014.
“It starts with building a team that is physical and tough,” Harbaugh said. “That’s capable of overwhelming their opponent from beginning to end — especially at the end. That understands how to finish. That is smart and disciplined. That plays the game the way it should be played, and that everybody watching it, including those playing it, would be proud of.”
Harbaugh echoes the hires of Coughlin (2004) or Dan Reeves (1993) and rendered moot months of research into the top NFL coordinators ready for a promotion.
“Every time I read through them all, I said, ‘Who are these guys?’ ” Chris Mara said. “We knew who John Harbaugh was, and we have tried the other way before many times. It just didn’t work out, for one reason or the other, and we needed credibility. And he was it.”
