At long last, the New York Giants have their head coach.
The Giants and former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh agreed to and finalized a five-year contract to make him Big Blue's new head coach, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported Saturday afternoon.
The team has since announced Harbaugh's hiring.
"We are proud to name John Harbaugh as the next head coach of the New York Giants," said Giants owner John Mara, via the team's website. "Joe Schoen presented us an outstanding group of candidates, which allowed us to be deliberate and confident in this decision. Through numerous conversations, John consistently stood out for his conviction and vision for leading a winning organization, and we welcome him and his family to the Giants."
Garafolo had initially reported on Thursday that New York was expected to hire Harbaugh, with Rapoport adding the expected deal would make Harbaugh one of the NFL's highest-paid coaches.
However, a couple days then passed without Harbaugh signing at the dotted line.
Harbaugh and the Giants had been discussing, among other things, the reporting structure for the head coach and general manager Joe Schoen, the Insiders reported.
As part of Harbaugh and New York's agreement, he will report to Giants ownership, not to Schoen, the coach told The Athletic's Ian O'Connor on Saturday.
"It was building the football operations structure. The conversations with John and Chris Mara and Joe about that were great," Harbaugh told O'Connor of his contract talks with the Giants. "We're not going to be much bigger operationally, but it takes time to put that together in negotiations. It finally came together and I like the start of where we are going, but we still have to build it out. We're on the same page with it."
The two-day delay in finalizing an agreement added some consternation for a fan base that has so long been looking to return to legitimacy after just two postseason trips since the Giants' last Super Bowl title during the 2011 campaign.
Harbaugh, 63, now officially the man for Big Blue, brings legitimacy in droves.
"John is a proven winner whose teams are disciplined, resilient, and prepared," said Giants chairman Steve Tisch. "His passion for the game, his ability to connect with players, and his experience leading at the highest level made him an outstanding fit for us, and we're excited to move forward together."
A one-time Super Bowl champion, Harbaugh led the Ravens to the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons in Baltimore, with 11 of those campaigns netting double-digit wins and six resulting in AFC North titles. Known as a culture builder and guiding voice, things became stale for him with the Ravens before a missed postseason following a win-or-go-home Week 18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers resulted in his firing.
Now, he gets a fresh start leading a team that hasn't won the NFC East since the aforementioned 2011 season.
There's plenty of talent for Harbaugh to work with, including a budding offensive trio of quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Cam Skattebo and wide receiver Malik Nabers, as well as an equally promising group of pass-rushing triplets in Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter.
It's a stellar foundation for Harbaugh, who knows how to build and lead a winner.
Harbaugh, likely the shiniest name available for most teams, also garnered interest from the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans.
He worked through the coaching cycle and now a two-day period of breath-holding to officially agree to lead New York.
The Giants will be crossing their fingers it'll be well worth the wait.