Source: Antonio Pierce is next up in Giants' search for a head coach

Antonio Pierce, the only candidate for head coach who already has his image on a mural in the Giants’ facility, will get his chance to put an even bigger stamp on the building.

The former linebacker and captain, who helped lead the Giants to a win in Super Bowl XLII — and whose picture is above the word “Anticipation” on the wall outside the team’s locker room — will interview for the vacancy on Friday, a source confirmed. He was expected to meet with several Giants decision-makers for dinner on Thursday.

Pierce was known for his toughness and on-field intelligence as a player, and his coaching resume includes stints as an assistant at Arizona State and the Raiders. In 2023 he was named interim head coach of the Raiders when Josh McDaniels was fired and led them to a 5-4 finish that earned him the full-time job the following season. After going 4-13 in 2024, he was fired.

The Giants continue to cast the “wide net” for candidates that general manager Joe Schoen promised. They met Thursday with former Bucs and Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, a source confirmed.

Once they complete their in-person interviews with Morris and Pierce, the Giants will be in compliance with the league’s Rooney Rule and will be able to make a hire if they choose to do so.

The Giants have not scheduled an interview with Super Bowl-winning coach John Harbaugh as of yet — no one has — but they are expected to meet with him at some point next week. The Giants already have had an in-person interview with Kevin Stefanski.

Speaking of “anticipation,” the league-wide competition to land Harbaugh received a new official entrant on Thursday when the Dolphins fired their coach, Mike McDaniel. Miami is considered one of the front-runners for Harbaugh, and that status will only grow if the Dolphins hire his former colleague from Baltimore, Chad Alexander, as general manager.

If the Dolphins were to hire Harbaugh and Alexander, a late addition to their list of candidates who emerged only after the Ravens fired Harbaugh on Tuesday, Harbaugh would have a partner he knows to help build a team. There has been no indication, though, that the prospect of working with Schoen would be a deal-breaker for him.

The Giants’ chances of landing Harbaugh likely will come down to their face-to-face meeting, assuming it takes place. The big question in that circumstance: Who will be interviewing whom?

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was very keen on hiring Jim Harbaugh in the past, and it is believed he will make a strong push for his brother now.

While Miami offers many alluring qualities from its beaches to lack of state income tax, the Dolphins have questions at quarterback after McDaniel benched Tua Tagovailoa. They have not won a Super Bowl since 1973.

The Giants won a Super Bowl in each of the previous four decades (they have four seasons left to make it five in a row) and have Jaxson Dart as the biggest draw personnel-wise. It stands to reason that Harbaugh, 63, would prefer a situation with the most important player on the team already in place.

Other teams certainly will be interested in Harbaugh as well, including the Falcons, Titans and any team that loses in this weekend’s Wild Card playoff round and decides to make a coaching change.

Until then, the Giants continue to investigate other options.

Morris, who grew up in Irvington, New Jersey, played and got his coaching start at Hofstra. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion as an assistant coach, serving as a quality control coach for the Bucs in 2002 and defensive coordinator for the Rams in 2021.

In 2009, at age 32, he became the Buccaneers’ head coach and had a record of 17-31. In the last two seasons as head coach of the Falcons, his teams went 16-18. He also served as interim head coach of the Falcons in 2020, going 4-7 after Dan Quinn was fired.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.