He ultimately decided to give New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen a reprieve, despite having “second thoughts,” but the pair will be on a short lease based on the strong warning from co-owner John Mara.
The team president confirmed on Monday, January 6 Daboll and Schoen will keep their jobs for 2025, despite going 3-14 this season. Yet, Mara also sounded an ominous note of warning when asked “How long will it take to improve the product, John?”
Mara responded, “It better not take too long, Bruce, because I’ve just about run out of patience,” per SNY.tv’s Giants Videos.
Those words are a direct indication Schoen and Daboll need to right things in a hurry next season. Mara’s forceful stance is also a tacit admission he’s taken a major gamble by retaining a coach and a GM who’ve overseen back-to-back losing campaigns.
A mere nine wins in the two seasons since 2022’s Cinderella playoff campaign explain why Mara thought twice about keeping Schoen and Daboll.
John Mara Had “Second Thoughts” About This Giants Regime
Standing by Daboll and Schoen wasn’t a no-brainer for Mara. In fact, the 70-year-old “was having second thoughts,” according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
Russini also reported those doubts prompted the Giants to go as far as doing “some background work on potential coaching candidates.”
The idea the Giants looked but couldn’t find a credible replacement for Daboll will be tough for some to accept. Especially those who took their calls for change to the skies.
Daboll hasn’t been able to develop a quarterback, while the offense got worse once he took over calling plays. The Giants ranked 31st in points and 30th in yards in 2024, per Pro Football Reference.
So what convinced Mara to stick with hasn’t been working? It turns out two things swayed the man in charge.
Giants Kept Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen to Avoid Change
Mara’s ultimate reasons for keeping Daboll and Schoen won’t please everybody. One of the primary factors was speaking with coach and GM at “length on Friday and they sold him on their plan. Mara believes in their process, the rookie draft class and cited that Daboll won coach of the year in 2022. It’s still in there he believes,” according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
More than a few may be surprised to learn Daboll and Schoen even have a plan, but Mara is convinced. He’s also resistant to the idea of overseeing constant change and annual upheaval.
Mara explained, “When you make these changes, and God knows we’ve made them in the past and been impatient in the past, and when you do that you feel like you take one step forward and one step back, and I just didn’t want to fall into that cycle again,” per Raanan.
Keeping what they have just to avoid change seems like a bigger risk for the Giants than replacing a failing coach and general manager. Especially based on the last two seasons.
Schoen and Daboll can point to a strong 2024 NFL draft class that yielded dynamic playmakers wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. Finally finding the right quarterback to join this duo can reward Mara for his waning patience.
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