PHILADELPHIA — Brian Daboll is going to fight for his job, just as he did three years ago when the opportunity to become the head coach of the New York Giants was within his reach.
What Daboll was not going to do in the aftermath of the Giants’ season-ending 20-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was take to the podium inside the Lincoln Financial Field interview room and campaign for our benefit.
Not the reporters assembled, including yours truly. Not a significant part of a fan base that has lost faith in the direction the Giants are headed, both before Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen got here and since they have been in command, especially not after a 3-14 campaign — one of the worst in franchise history — came to a merciful end here Sunday afternoon.
Make no mistake: Daboll believes he deserves to remain the head coach of this team, and he will try to convince Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch at some point soon. But, as is his preference, he will do so behind closed doors for an audience of two, or three if there is any question about how Schoen might be feeling with regard to their partnership and vision going forward, provided he earns the right to stay as well.
“We’ll have those talks here like we always do” after the season, Daboll said, repeating his assertion that this is part of a typical debrief week-to-week with team brass and not a departure from the norm, even if the circumstances surrounding the Giants’ uncertain future and the temperature within the organization — and outside of it, to be sure — suggests otherwise.
Schoen and Daboll embraced what stood as one of the most challenging jobs in the NFL when they were hired as general manager and head coach of the New York Giants three years ago.
Those suggesting otherwise are being disingenuous.
So where do the Giants stand now, after Sunday’s Week 18 finale against the Eagles in what may or may not have been the final game for Daboll and Schoen, for one or both, or for neither?
The last two seasons have not gone as planned for the Giants, and what happens next regarding Daboll and Schoen is a decision that now shifts to ownership. It’s far more complicated than those screaming to “clean house” are willing to admit, even if that is not a popular opinion from talking heads, loyal customers who commit hundreds and thousands of dollars for what has been an underwhelming product, or others just trying to get attention.
The meetings with Daboll and Schoen are expected to happen at some point early this week, likely later Monday or possibly even Tuesday — so there may not be an immediate answer on their fates. The Giants will have their final team meeting of this season at 8 a.m. in East Rutherford, and once that closes the book on Year 3, the future of this franchise and the two men in charge of guiding it to football success will be judged by the two men granted the power by their respective families to decide what is in the best interests of Big Blue.
What we do know: One of the worst seasons in Giants history — in a year when they hoped to celebrate their 100th anniversary — has mercifully come to an end, perhaps fittingly in the stadium where they have endured some of their greatest heartache in recent memory.
The Giants (3-14) dropped a 20-13 decision to the Eagles, who rested most of their starters, including Saquon Barkley, in preparation for the playoffs. In terms of the Giants’ lineup, their mixing and matching resembled that of a preseason game for much of the afternoon.
The Giants are 18-32-1 in the three years since the leaders’ hiring, which was widely praised.
A rebuild like the one the Giants needed after the 2021 season was bound to be messy.
The fact that it didn’t start out that way two years ago when Daboll and Schoen got here has been overshadowed greatly by what has transpired since. Whether that’s fair or unfair doesn’t seem to matter to many observers, and truth be told, what matters is through what lens Mara and Tisch view the current circumstances.
The forever-accelerated timeline of this league — and for a team that has struggled mightily through a decade of despair — is catching up to Daboll, for certain, and for Schoen, whose job relies on the patience of the NFL Draft and development just the same.
I expressed this sentiment in a column the day after Thanksgiving, that in another dead season for the Giants, who have lost double-digit games for the ninth time in 11 years, this was a much-needed means to an end.
I made a plea to Mara to be honest about what his franchise needs, that he should bite his lower lip, block out the noise and bring back Daboll and Schoen. This became harder and harder for anyone to stomach, of course, with planes pulling banners over MetLife Stadium in two of the final three home games demanding that Mara “fire everyone” involved.
The stunts were organized by a select few but championed by more, especially on social media and on sports talk radio shows, where yelling and screaming often overtake reasoning and patience, which the Giants have tested yet again.
If Mara and Tisch give Daboll and Schoen another shot at pulling the organization out of this tailspin, it’s not outrageous given circumstances across the board. That won’t be embraced by all those demanding firings and blood for the considerable lack of success this year, and I get it.
Firing Daboll or Schoen does not solve the problems they inherited, as much as starting over might feel like yet another clean slate. It’s not — just ask Daboll and Schoen how clean the slate was when they got here.
How the Giants ended up back here is certainly a lesson in history, and the challenge is making sure not to relive another failed chapter all over again — and again, and again, and again.
Consider this from Brian Burns, who emerged as one of the most respected voices in the locker room this season, his first with the Giants after he was acquired in a trade with an investment that included a contract worth $141 million.
In five previous seasons with the Carolina Panthers, Burns witnessed how the lack of continuity can wreck a franchise, with a staggering six head coaches — two on an interim basis — since he arrived in the league.
“Do I want it [with the Giants]? Not really,” Burns said, matter-of-factly. “I would like some stability. I would like Dabes and Joe and everybody to stay so we can get rolling next year without having to start a whole new regime, a whole new everything. That’s been my life in the NFL.”
Like it or not, that’s become the Giants’ way, too.
The Giants are 51-96-1 since Tom Coughlin’s exit after the 2015 season. They have hired and fired three head coaches in his wake: Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge, with an interim tag for Steve Spagnuolo for four games after McAdoo was dismissed in 2017.
It’s time for Daboll and Schoen to sell their vision again. While it feels as if the head coach has more of a fight on his hands than the GM, both have convincing to do to Mara and Tisch, making sure they see that a bigger picture is at play.
It’s not revisionist history, but where the Giants were and where they are now remains part of this story.
If this season has taught us anything, with Saquon Barkley heading to the Eagles and Daniel Jones’ release after 10 games, the Giants made difficult choices that have led to challenges at every turn. Mara knows this — he was part of just about every conversation — and the reality hurts. This was not about losing sleep as much as it was ripping off the Band-Aid.
You can say farewell to Daboll and Schoen with the promise of yet another clean slate if you so choose, but we all know that’s fantasy.
Jerry Reese and Ben McAdoo did not leave Dave Gettleman and Shurmur a clean slate, and Gettleman presided over quite the opposite after dismissing Shurmur and bringing Judge aboard.
The pairing of Gettleman with Judge and the way they did business shook the organization to its core. Gettleman’s arrogance in the job and Judge’s refusal to ask ownership to find a solution spread through numerous departments, and the product was wrecked across the board.
Will Daboll and Schoen survive? They were hired three years ago to do a job, and it’s far from complete. They were brought here to turn the Giants into contenders again.
Mara and Tisch are well aware their Giants have won a Super Bowl in each of the last four decades. The four Vince Lombardi trophies in the lobby of their training facility are proof that they actually did happen.
They also need to accept the fact that the road back to respectability required a season like this, not to mention a head coach and a GM willing to admit they are not perfect by standing out front with conviction and a plan, even if there have been unexpected twists and turns, some of which were of their own doing.
For Daboll and Schoen, the season’s over. The time for them to fight to stay is now.
