When the New York Giants fired Pat Shurmur and embarked and their third head coaching search in five years, there was concern over two very specific things: Dave Gettleman and Daniel Jones.
Would Gettleman’s presence in the organization dissuade teams from joining the Giants? And would Jones at quarterback give potential candidates pause?
It was quickly proven that Gettleman was not a concern for potential incoming head coaches despite the media perception in New York, but what about Jones?
Giants co-owner John Mara was asked that question on Thursday and acknowledged that Jones turned out to be a selling point rather than a deterrent.
John Mara on Daniel Jones influence in coaching search: "I will tell you this, it felt good that every person we interviewed loves the quarterback. They all said that to us. They all said, ‘We could win with this guy. He has some unique talents.’"
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) January 9, 2020
Interestingly, incoming head coach Joe Judge refused to address questions about Jones during his introductory press conference on Thursday, and managed to get through the entire thing without uttering the name of a single Giants player.
“We have a lot of talent on this roster. It’s been assembled that way for a reason, I don’t want to sit here and try to give you expert analysis without having done my due diligence and homework to sit down and thoroughly investigate each one of these players,” Judge said. “They all have ability. I’m excited to work with every player on our roster. Every player on our roster has talent, and every player on our roster will compete for whatever they get.”
Ultimately, however, Judge would not have taken the job if he didn’t want Jones at quarterback, which settled the two largest debates that were out there: neither Gettleman nor Jones were a concern for anyone the team interviewed.
[lawrence-related id=638010,638023,638007]