Owner John Mara and the Giants didn’t waste much time coming to a decision on the direction of the franchise, announcing early on Monday that both GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll will return for the 2025 season.
Not long after the announcement was made, Mara met with reporters to explain his decision to keep the current regime in place, saying he met with Schoen and Daboll on Friday for “several hours,” after which he spoke with co-owner Steve Tisch.
“Just came to the decision that staying with both of them is the best course of action for us right now,” Mara said. “In Brian’s case, he’s the Coach of the Year two years ago and that didn’t disappear all of a sudden. I still believe he can do that again. In Joe’s case, I thought we had an outstanding draft class this year, I thought we had a really good free agency period, and I really like the staff that he’s put together and built and I think that they’re the right two guys to lead us going forward. I understand, believe me, that that’s not going to be the most popular decision in Giants land, but we believe it’s the right decision for us going forward.”
The Giants finished their 100th season with a 3-14 record, and are now 18-32-1 in the Schoen/Daboll era. Asked about the fans’ frustration with how things have gone, Mara responded that “nobody is more frustrated and upset than I am.”
“I appreciate the fact that [the fans] have hung in there with us,” he added. “I get your frustration, I feel your pain, but I still believe this is the right decision for us going forward.”
And while Schoen and Daboll are still the right men to be leading the Giants, Mara explained, the product on the field needs to change in a hurry.
“It better not take too long, because I’ve just about run out of patience,” Mara said.
“The results are not even close to what we want them to be. They’re going to have to get better if we’re going to move on to Year 4.”
Mara later added that he was going to have to “be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now,” or else change will be coming.
Heading into the offseason, Mara explained that finding the team’s quarterback of the future is the “No. 1 issue for us… whether that be in the draft or acquiring a veteran. It’s going to be up to [Schoen and Daboll] to decide.”
Two weeks ago, the Giants were in prime position to land whichever quarterback they wanted in the 2025 NFL Draft, as they held the No. 1 pick. But a Week 17 win over the Colts ultimately landed them the No. 3 pick, with the QB-needy Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns ahead of them, with this draft likely having only two potential star quarterbacks in Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward.
But when Mara was asked why the team didn’t “tank” both of their final games to help their draft position, he was quick to respond.
“If I had thought that we were tanking either one of those games, I would’ve fired everybody,” Mara said. “We are never going to do that in this organization as long as I’m standing on this side of the grass.”