During Monday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants decided to make a switch at the quarterback position at halftime, replacing starter Tommy DeVito with veteran Tyrod Taylor. But head coach Brian Daboll was not exactly forthcoming about that switch during his interview with sideline reporter Pam Oliver just before the start of the third quarter.
Oliver conducted a sideline interview with Daboll just moments before the team took the field for the start of the second half where he discussed some adjustments the team would have to make after falling behind 20-3 at the half. But one thing he failed to mention was that the team was making a change at quarterback.
As a result, the Fox NFL crew found out about the quarterback change when everyone else did – as Taylor was running onto the field instead of DeVito.
Brian Daboll was not very forthcoming with Pam Oliver about Tyrod Taylor's impending entry into today's game after halftime… pic.twitter.com/EioJi3fNSp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 26, 2023
“Pam, this is news to all of us at halftime seeing Tyrod Taylor take over for Tommy DeVito. What have you found out?” Fox’s Joe Davis asked Oliver about the quarterback change.
“Well, I had a lovely conversation with Brian Daboll – he uh, kept it from me,” Oliver said. “But it turns out, it’s just a coach’s decision. Guess he’s not satisfied with DeVito’s performance. DeVito still continues to throw and warm up on the sideline, but he’s out.”
“Kept it a secret for another 60 seconds,” Davis replied.
It’s one thing for a coach to refuse to divulge information unnecessarily when that information could benefit the opponent, but it’s unlikely that the Giants gained any competitive advantage by withholding this information from Oliver since the whole world found out about the decision just seconds later.
In this case, the only thing Daboll accomplished was frustrating the sideline reporter.