EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — John Mara is lost. That’s the only conclusion to come to after listening to the New York Giants co-owner explain the decision to retain general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll for a fourth season.
Tom Coughlin once had to convince ownership that he deserved a fourth season after consecutive playoff appearances. That was 18 years ago. It feels like a lifetime.
Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch pledged their support of Schoen and Daboll after they oversaw one of the worst seasons in the franchise’s 100-year history. The Giants finished a miserable 3-14 season with a loss to the Eagles’ backups on Sunday. That followed a 6-11 record in 2023, which prompted Mara to state this summer that, “I expect us to take a big step forward this year.”
Instead, the Giants took another step backward. The product on the field is indefensible.
“We stunk this year,” Mara said. “It’s my instinct and my strong belief that we are going to go in the right direction. It’s hard for me to say we’re going in the right direction right now because we’ve been going backward.”
Mara’s explanation of his belief was full of contradictions.
He said he thinks they’re going in the right direction while expressing that he’s “just about run out of patience.”
Mara said their process when making personnel decisions “is better than I’ve ever seen it before,” yet he couldn’t even express confidence that this regime has made the roster better than the one it inherited in 2022.
“I’m not sure I am all that confident that it’s that much better,” Mara said. “How can I say that it’s better if we win three games? We need to win more games for us to be able to prove that point.”
In one breath, Mara acknowledged that, “We have a lot of holes to fill,” but then said, “It’d better not take too long” to improve the product.
Mara was adamant the Giants didn’t tank late in the season — “If I had thought that we were tanking either one of those games, I would have fired everybody” — so that means he’s “confident” in a group that got beat by the Eagles’ backups in Sunday’s finale.
It’s enough to make your head spin.
Obviously, the decision to stick with Schoen and Daboll is at least partly rooted in ownership’s desire to stop overhauling the front office and coaching staff every few years.
“When you make these changes — and God knows we’ve made them in the past and been impatient in the past — when you do that, you feel like you take one step forward, two steps back, and I just didn’t want to fall into that cycle again,” Mara said. “I wanted to give people a chance to build this thing the right way and to get us to where we need to be.”
It’s incredible that this is the duo Mara has decided warrants patience. Yes, Daboll was the NFL Coach of the Year for leading the Giants to the playoffs in 2022, but things are bleaker now than ever.
The Giants endured a franchise record 10-game losing streak and went winless in the NFC East for the first time ever this season. They’re 1-12 against the Eagles and Cowboys under this regime. Even the worst seasons from Dave Gettleman, Joe Judge or Pat Shurmur weren’t three-wins bad.
So, as Mara conducted his annual season-ending self-flagellation session — “Nobody’s more frustrated and upset than I am,” he said — he didn’t provide any tangible reason to believe things will change. The Giants have the worst record in the NFL over the past eight seasons.
The Giants have tried firing everyone. That hasn’t worked. So now they’re trying to ride it out with Schoen and Daboll. There are obvious questions about this approach.
This regime will be feeling pressure to win in 2025 despite Schoen’s vow not to do a “Hail Mary for self-preservation.” Could Schoen’s hot seat result in an ill-advised free-agent spending spree like Gettleman in 2021 or Jerry Reese in 2016? Or could the need to land a franchise quarterback lead to a forced pick like Daniel Jones in 2019?
Whatever plan Schoen and Daboll outlined to Mara last Friday to convince him to stick with them surely revolved around the quarterback position.
“Obviously, the quarterback is the big issue,” Mara said. “I think once you solve the quarterback issue, I think a lot of these other things will improve as well.”
Mara made it sound so simple that it almost makes you forget they’ve been trying to solve the quarterback issue for six years. This regime already botched it with the four-year, $160 million contract they gave Daniel Jones that didn’t even survive two seasons. Schoen doubled down on that massive misstep Monday.
“I wouldn’t change what we did,” Schoen said. “When I reflect on how that went down with Daniel, again, it’s the information you have.”
The Giants also passed on quarterbacks with the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft to take wide receiver Malik Nabers, who already looks like a star. The path to an equivalent quarterback is hazy.
The Giants have the third pick behind two quarterback-needy teams in a draft with two premier QB prospects. Mara’s urgency to turn things around quickly makes signing or trading for a veteran quarterback a realistic possibility.
“That’s obviously the number one issue for us going into this offseason, is to find our quarterback of the future,” Mara said. “Whether that be via the draft or acquiring a veteran, it’s going to be up to them to decide, ultimately.”
The right quarterback will certainly go a long way to fixing the Giants’ problems. But there are other issues that will be addressed this offseason.
Schoen and Daboll may have job security, but first-year defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is clearly in ownership’s crosshairs.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara said. “I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed.”
Bowen was the Giants’ fourth choice for DC last offseason after Wink Martindale’s ugly fallout with Daboll. The position figures to be even less appealing this year. Candidates with other options surely will be wary about joining a head coach squarely on the hot seat.
The defense wasn’t good, but it ranked 21st in points allowed. Meanwhile, Daboll engineered an offense that finished 31st in scoring. There could be changes there, too. Mara said he talked to Daboll about, “Do you really believe that it’s in our best interest for you to continue calling the plays?’”
Daboll decided to strip play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka after the Giants finished 30th in scoring in 2023. A year later, Daboll may be forced to reverse course again. And it may not be as simple as handing the duties back to Kafka, who could have other options.
The Bears reportedly requested an interview with Kafka for their head-coaching vacancy, and he could be in demand as an offensive coordinator elsewhere. The Giants blocked Kafka from interviewing for the Seahawks’ OC job last offseason, as they tried to manage optics after replacing their two other coordinators. It would be callous to again block Kafka if he wants to leave.
So, the Giants could have new play callers on both sides of the ball as Mara shared his aversion to starting over. That would fit in with the disjointed plan the Giants were trying to sell in the absence of any results.
“If I’m standing here a year from now, and we’re having the same conversation, I’ll take the heat for it,” Mara said. “But we still believe that it’s the right decision going forward.”
Maybe this decision will turn out like Coughlin, who survived to see a fourth season and went on to win two Super Bowls. But on Monday, the Giants seemed further away from those glory days than ever.
(Photo of John Mara: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)