On Monday, many were shocked to learn that it was only head coach Pat Shurmur who was shown the door in East Rutherford and not general manager Dave Gettleman following a disappointing 2019 campaign.
Now, with the New York Giants having just endured their third straight losing season, they are once again in the market for a new head coach, which seems to be all too familiar routine.
#Giants will now have to hire a 4th coach since 2015 – that’s how bad it has been!
— Bruce Beck (@BruceBeck4NY) December 30, 2019
It may be overlooked at this point, but the Giants may have just trapped themselves into a commitment with Gettleman for at least the next two seasons.
Gettleman, of course, had a part in bringing in Pat Shurmur and will now be involved in deciding who the next Giants head coach is. And it’s hard to imagine the Giants giving their new head coach less than two years to show what he can do with the team (even though that’s become the norm).
Given the fact that Gettleman will have had a say in the incoming head coach, is he safe from being let go after the 2020 season as a result?
Bringing in a new general manager in the event of Gettleman’s termination and asking them to inherit a coaching staff that they did not help build is a significant ask and one that many executives would likely shy away from, which lends itself to the notion that Gettleman is locked in for a while — something co-owner John Mara even alluded to on Monday.
“Dave Gettleman is our general manager in 2020 and hopefully for many years after that,” Mara said in a team release. “We believe he is the right person to lead us going forward. Dave has a long record of success. We think he’s capable of putting a great team together and he’s going to get that opportunity. To the extent we need to make changes in personnel or the way we do things, we’re going to discuss that.”
Mara did also acknowledge that the general manager must improve, but expressed a belief that he’s the right man for the job.
Hopefully it is a non-issue and the new regime that Gettleman will be a part of will be here for years to come, but it is a little concerning to think the Giants may have just locked themselves into two more years with their GM by way of making a half-decision on cleaning house.
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