The New York Giants announced on Monday that they were bringing back general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for the 2025 season despite the team recording a 9-25 record over the last two years.
There’s a huge backlash from fans regarding this decision. Many wanted to see change and some went as far as to fly banners stating those sentiments over MetLife Stadium on game days.
But co-owner John Mara is tired of change, apparently. He has made so many of them since the team booted Tom Coughlin to the curb back in 2015 with little to show.
Mara is sticking to his guns this time. He believes he has the right general manager in Schoen and Daboll is still considered a top coaching talent. Firing them might only set his franchise back at this point.
There’s an old adage — “Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.”
Change for the sake of change is senseless sometimes. Had Mara decided to cut ties, he would have to go out into the market to fill both jobs. Another delve into the unknown that may or may not yield better results.
By keeping Schoen, Mara has a capable general manager who now has experience, whereas three years ago, he did not. Schoen’s 2024 draft class was light on numbers (just six picks) but heavy on talent and promise. He’s getting better at his job. Why change?
Ditto for Daboll. He was never a head coach on any level before the Giants hired him. He was the “hot” coordinator who breezed in and turned things around quickly, posting a 9-7-1 record but then didn’t have the pedigree or experience to sustain that success or take it to the next level.
After two years of humiliation, Daboll now knows what not to do as a head coach. He has matured into the job and Mara sees that. His players and assistants like and respect him and he could be ready to start winning again.
The Giants a pulling a page out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ book. They take a patient approach and nurture not only their on-field personnel but the off-field personnel as well.
Schoen and Daboll have two years remaining on their respective contracts. Under any circumstances, they would be on the hot seat next season as Mara does not like to have lame-duck people working for him.
The tell-tale will be whether they get extended after 2025, so this decision was pretty much made when the two were signed back in 2022. They will continue to sink or swim together.
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