The top guys are coming back.
John Mara insisted he wanted to, if at all possible, show more patience this time around, acknowledging that he perhaps bailed on head coaches too quickly as the demise of the Giants franchise reached appalling levels.
There is no doubt that the 2024 season severely tested the patience of the co-owner but in the end, there will be status quo, with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll returning for a fourth year.
“Now that the season is over, we felt it necessary to make this statement,” Mara said in a statement Monday morning. “Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll will continue in their respective roles with the organization. As disappointing as the results of the season have been, Steve (Tisch) and I remain confident in the process that Joe and Brian have implemented and their vision for our team.
“We look forward to the future and achieving the results we all desire.”
Fans who wanted sweeping change as a result of the Giants going 3-14 in the 100th season in franchise history will be disappointed by this.
Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch decided to stay the course with the duo that in 2022 was hired away from the Buffalo Bills and enjoyed immediate success, followed by regression in 2023 and complete failure this past season.
In three years, the Giants are 18-32-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs with rosters Schoen ᴀssembled and Daboll guided. The progression has been inverted, from 9-7-1 and the first playoff victory in 11 years to 6-11 in 2023 to this year’s bottoming out.
Clearly, Giants ownership still believes in Schoen’s vision and Daboll’s ability to get the best out of the players he is provided. Both were signed to five-year contracts and thus have two years remaining on their original deals.
The Giants own the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and this vote of confidence means ownership is confident that Schoen can select the right player and Daboll can help that player reach his potential. There is a solid chance that player will be a quarterback, raising the stakes even higher for the Giants to get this one right.
Back on Oct. 23, only seven games into a season that was already sideways and seemingly headed into a steep descent, Mara issued what certainly sounded like a statement of fact regarding the job security of Daboll and Schoen.
The Giants at the time were 2-5, coming off a 28-3 blowout loss to the Eagles.
“Obviously we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said at the time. “But I’m gonna say one thing: we are not making any changes this season. And I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason, either.”
He stuck by those words, even after the Giants suffered through a franchise-record 10-game losing streak and were close to becoming the first team in NFL history to go 0-9 at home in a season. The 45-33 victory over the Colts in Week 17 put the Giants at 1-8 in games at MetLife Stadium.
With the Week 18 loss to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field — a game in which the Eagles rested their starters to gear up for the playoffs — the Giants for the first time in franchise history finished winless in the NFC East, going 0-6.
Mara after last season insisted he wanted to see improvement in 2024 and feel confident that the team was headed in the right direction. Now he will have to explain where he sees that improvement and how a three-win season indicates anything uplifting about the direction of the team.
After last season, Mara also stated that Daboll and Schoen were not a “package deal.’’ It sure felt that way after Schoen was hired and Daboll immediately went to the top of the head coach candidate list, as the two already had a strong working and personal relationship from their time together in Buffalo.
After considering all options, ownership decided to keep them together to give it another sH๏τ in 2025.
Schoen’s first two NFL drafts were not impressive. His first two picks, outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (No. 5 overall in 2022) and offensive tackle Evan Neal (No. 7) are not impact players. Thibodeaux did not build off his strong 2023 season and Neal continues to fall into the “bust’’ category.
The 2024 draft, led by Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy, appears to be a strong one for Schoen.
Daboll, after making the playoffs with careful management of quarterback Daniel Jones, was unable to coax any further improvement out of Jones.
An overtime loss to the Panthers in Munich prompted Daboll to pull the plug on Jones as the starting quarterback, triggering an awkward series of events that ended with Jones asking for his release from the team. That request was granted and he now is on the Vikings’ practice squad.
Daboll bypᴀssed backup Drew Lock and inserted Tommy DeVito, the No. 3 quarterback, into the lineup, confounding some in the front office.
It has been a flip-flop at the position ever since, with injuries and poor play making it increasingly apparent that the Giants need a new starting quarterback in 2025. Daboll also took over the play-calling this season and only the Browns scored fewer points than the Giants.
Daboll quickly became a fan favorite during and after the 2022 season, when he was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year. As the losses mounted, frustration and anger were directed at Daboll, and Schoen, but they will both return to try to get the franchise turned around.
