EAST RUTHERFORD – John Mara believes in Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll, which is why the New York Giants are bringing them back for a fourth season as their general manager and head coach, respectively.
Mara also hates the idea of starting over, which the franchise has done far too many times in a decade of despair since Tom Coughlin’s exit in 2015.
So which factor was more important in the decision? More conviction in the plan Schoen and Daboll have continued to lay out for the Giants, or just the lack of desire to go through yet another search for the two jobs they hold?
What John Mara is saying about Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Mara said. “It’s a belief in them, No. 1. But No. 2, I think when you start over, you really set yourselves back. And when you have a belief in the two individuals that are leading the organization, you have to have the patience to stay with it. And again, if we’re standing here, if I’m standing here a year from now and we’re having the same conversation, I’ll take the heat for it. But I still think – we still believe – that it’s the right decision going forward.”
There had been speculation regarding their job security from the early weeks of this season in some circles. Instead of celebrating the 100th season in Giants history, the team spent much of the campaign trying to avoid perceived ineptitude and embarrassment during a 3-14 campaign that wound up as one of the worst it has ever had.
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The Giants are 18-32-1 in the three years since Schoen and Daboll were hired, and their arrival was widely praised.
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, yet what mattered most is through what lens Mara and Tisch viewed the current circumstances.
Schoen said he never wavered from the expectation that he would be back in this capacity next season.
“We’re not good enough. We didn’t play well enough,” Schoen said. “I’ve got to do a better job assembling a roster with more talent so we can go out and compete at a higher level. So, I look inward, first and foremost.”
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The Giants will avoid searching for their fifth head coach since Tom Coughlin and what would have been their third GM in the last seven years after having just three GMs from 1979-2017 (George Young, Ernie Accorsi and Jerry Reese).
What’s next for the Giants?
Mara would not put a timetable on Schoen or Daboll, and his expectations, while raised considerably, are not necessarily tied to solely wins and losses. If and when the Giants choose a new quarterback – which Mara indicated team brass will prioritize – that brought about a question as to whether they will get more time by drafting a rookie.
The Giants currently hold the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Better not take too long,” Mara quipped, “because I’ve just about run out of patience.”
The last two seasons have not gone as planned for the Giants, Mara said, yet it’s also 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 Giants had their final team meeting of this season Monday at 8 a.m., and with the book closed on Year 3, the future of this franchise and the two men in charge of guiding it to football success has been judged by the two men granted the power by their respective families to decide what is in the best interests of Big Blue.
“We’ll pursue anything that makes us better,” Daboll said Monday.
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.
“Listen, I didn’t need planes flying over me to tell me how upset the fans are,” Mara said. “That really didn’t have much of an effect. I get it, how upset they are. I try to respond, nobody was more upset than I am about how we’ve performed in recent years and I have to stand up here and take the heat for that.”
