In three seasons as the Giants general manager and head coach respectively, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll have been the stewards of a franchise that has a cumulative record of 18-31-1. The Giants finished third in the four-team NFC East in the 2022 season, third in 2023, and last this season. They did make the playoffs at 9-7-1 in 2022 and won a wildcard matchup on the road versus the Minnesota Vikings.
Since then, they are 9-25 and have shown no progress. In fact, they have regressed. They do not have a quarterback that elicits hope he can be a force multiplier, pulling the team on a deep playoff run and to the ultimate goal — the Super Bowl. Without a prized player at the position, reaching the league’s summit is immensely improbable.
So instead of a reset, Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have determined that Schoen, the GM, and Daboll, the head coach, have a blueprint and the leadership skills to dramatically impel an upward trajectory of the team. It’s a risky, counterintuitive conclusion that could render the Giants one of the NFL’s worst and most mismanaged teams in a league littered with poorly run organizations.
“Now that our season is over, we felt it necessary to make this statement,” Mara said to the media on Monday. “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.”
One can argue that their logic is faulty. While I am always sensitive to the numerous people, many unknown to the general fan base, whose lives are uprooted when a coach or GM is fired, change is sometimes necessary and inevitable. The probability that Schoen and Daboll are no longer in their positions with the Giants 12 months from now is over 50%. Perhaps 70%. The 2025 season is filled with obstacles, first and foremost the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, which were 14-3 and 12-5 respectively this season and are playoff teams.
The Eagles may have the most talented roster in football and the Commanders, with sensational rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, are one of the most ascendant teams in the league. The Dallas Cowboys were decimated by injuries this season and underachieved but have a core that is capable of a 10-plus win season. Thus, the NFC East should be a beast next season. Overall, the conference projects to be flush with predators that will devour the weak. It may take the Giants two seasons to transform from sheep being sheep to wolves.
Will Schoen and Daboll survive another losing season or going a middling 9-8 but still missing the playoffs — which would be three times in four seasons at the helm? Giving them a fifth year no matter what the outcome next season ostensibly makes more sense than retaining them for Year 4 then firing them 12 months from now.
Neither scenario is prudent. Yet, this is the seeming black hole Giants fans live in with their team.