New York Giants co-owner John Mara released a statement early on Monday morning revealing his decision to retain general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
With reporters already in the building to meet with players, Mara then opted to conduct an impromptu press conference in the field house.
What followed was a series of contradictory statements that provided little clarity on his decision to retain Schoen or Daboll.
“I certainly can’t justify it based on the record. But based on my observations, it’s my instinct and my strong belief that we are going to go in the right direction. You’ve got to take a calm, rational look at things. We did that,” Mara said.
The leash will be short, however. Mara made no commitments to either beyond 2025 and admits that his patience has worn thin.
“They’re going to have to get better if we’re going to move on to year four,” he said. “I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.
“It better not take too long because I’ve just about run out of patience.”
Pressed on that comment, Mara backtracked a bit.
“I understand the question, but I’m not going to put any kind of time limit on it. But I certainly understand where you’re going with that,” he said.
Ultimately, Mara said, he believes in the regime’s process and has faith in their collective plan entering 2025. He met with the pair on Friday and decided shortly thereafter that he would retain both. Specifically, he cited Schoen’s 2024 NFL draft class and free agency haul as a reason to stay the course.
The problem is that a year ago, Mara said he would need to see some positive strides in order to stick with Schoen and Daboll. Some of the personnel moves may have looked good on paper but they yielded no better results on the field.
Reminded of that, Mara made another contradictory comment.
“I’m not sure I am all that confident that (the roster) is that much better,” he 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. But there’s just a better feeling in the building now that we’ve got the right pieces in place. We have a lot of holes to fill and that’s what this offseason is going to be about.”
If things fail again in 2025 and Mara is forced to clean house, he’ll stand front and center and face the heat.
“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,” he said. “But we still believe that it’s the right decision going forward.”
It’s going to be a long climb back for Schoen and Daboll, and a very anxious 365 days for Mara.
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