The New York Giants will remain with general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll.
Team president and co-owner John Mara announced Monday that he and co-owner Steve Tisch have decided to move forward with the Giants’ current leadership, even after a 3-14 season that ranks among the franchise’s worst.
“We came to the decision that staying with both of them was the best course of action for us at this time,” Mara said at the team’s location. “I think in his case Brian was Coach of the Year two years ago. That didn’t suddenly disappear. I still believe he can do that again. And in Joe’s case, I thought we had an excellent draft class this year. I thought we had a really good free agency period. I really like the staff he has put together and built.
Mara said he spoke with Schoen and Daboll for “several hours” last Friday before deciding to bring them both back.
“I think they are the right two guys to lead us in the future,” Mara said. “I understand, believe me, that this won’t be the most popular decision in Giant Country.”
Frustrated fans, unhappy during a 10-game franchise losing streak, flew banners from planes over MetLife Stadium before the Giants’ final two home games, urging Mara to make big changes.
“I didn’t need planes flying over me to tell me how upset the fans are,” Mara said. “I hear from them every day. So it didn’t really have much effect. I understand how angry they are. I try to respond to them. No one was more upset than me about the way we’ve performed over the last few years. I gotta get up here and take the heat for that.
Instead, Schoen and Daboll will return next season and spend the coming months looking for a quarterback — the Giants have the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft — as they try to build a roster to compete in the NFC East after they go to 0. -6 in the division and finished 1-8 at home overall.
“That’s obviously the biggest issue for us going into this offseason: finding our quarterback of the future,” Mara said. “Whether that’s through the draft or through acquiring a veteran, it’s ultimately up to them to decide.”
Mara said he would not put “any time limits” on his commitment to the pair, but made it clear he needs to see marked improvement from both Schoen and Daboll next season.
“It better not be too long,” Mara said, “because I’m running out of patience.”
Both Schoen and Daboll were hired by the Giants in 2022 and their tenures got off to a promising start, with New York going 9-7-1 and making the playoffs, where they defeated Minnesota in the wild-card round before losing to the NFC East. rival Philadelphia, the eventual conference champion, in the divisional round. Daboll was also named AP NFL Coach of the Year.
But as quarterback Daniel Jones — who received a four-year, $160 million contract extension this offseason — struggled with injuries and inconsistency, the Giants struggled to a 6-11 finish.
Jones returned healthy this season but was benched for poor play after New York got off to a 2-8 start. He asked for and was granted his release by the Giants, who then used Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock as starting quarterbacks as New York won just one of its final seven games, putting both Schoen and Daboll’s jobs in jeopardy.
“Three wins, not good enough. So there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Daboll said Sunday after the Giants’ season-ending 20-13 loss to the Eagles.
“We stunk this year,” Mara said. “The results on the field were not what we wanted. There were a number of factors that played a role in this.”
Not re-signing running back Saquon Barkley certainly didn’t help, especially after he ran for 2,005 yards for NFC East rival Philadelphia and challenged Eric Dickerson’s single-season record in the NFL.
“If I’m sitting here a year from now and you’re asking me these questions, I’m going to take the heat,” Mara said. “But ultimately we have to make a decision, and we have made it.”