Making the case for the New York Giants moving on from Joe Schoen, Brian Daboll

Whatever path the Giants choose is filled with risks

A couple of weeks ago I made the case for the New York Giants to keep general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

It is getting harder and harder to defend that idea. Especially in the case of Daboll.

The Giants’ 35-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday was the Giants’ ninth straight, tying a franchise record for futility. The 1976, 2003, 2004 and 2019 Giants all lost nine straight games. There are three games left, and little reason to think that losing streak won’t stretch to a franchise-record 12 straight.

The Giants haven’t been competitive against most of the good teams they have played, and haven’t been able to beat the bad ones.

There are reasons on the field, the injured list, the stands and even in the skies why it seems increasingly difficult for Giants ownership — even with a stated desire for patience and continuity — to allow Daboll to remain on the Giants’ sideline beyond the end of this season.

The product on the field is awful.

Prior to each of the last two home games someone has hired a plane to carry a banner pleading with co-owner John Mara to make changes.

Before the Week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints, the banner read:

“Mr. Mara enough … plz. fix this dumpster fire.”

Sunday’s read:

“Mr. Mara enough — We won’t stop until you fire everyone.”

For the second week in a row, the stands were largely empty. MetLife Stadium was mostly lifeless. Fans began leaving late in the third quarter of the game against Baltimore. There were again fans wearing paper bags over their heads as the game ended.

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Daboll is now 17-30-1 (.301 winning percentage) as Giants’ head coach. Only Bill Arnsparger (7-28, .200) and Pat Shurmur (9-23, .281) have been worse. Daboll has now sunk below even the vilified, over his head Joe Judge (10-23, .303) in terms of winning percentage.

Earlier in the season, Mara issued a plea for patience. He said he had not shown enough over the years, and that to get things fixed he had to have more. I know he wants to be patient with Daboll. With Schoen, too.

Embarrassment, though, can be a great motivator for change. And, there is little doubt that Giants’ ownership is embarrassed right now.

Can Mara — and Steve Tisch — overcome the embarrassment, the awful product, the ire of the fans and find a way to go forward with the current regime?

Wide receiver Darius Slayton, worn down by six mostly bad years and perhaps headed to a new employer next season, thinks that is exactly what is going to happen.

“I don’t see it (firings) happening. It seems like everybody will be here,” Slayton said. “It just doesn’t feel like there’s going to be any changes made, which is fine.”

Is it fine, though?

Maybe Schoen, despite the mistakes of his first three seasons, can still get it right. He wouldn’t be the first general manager to find success after years of struggling at the beginning of his tenure. Maybe Daboll, who succeeded in Buffalo with Josh Allen, can do the same with the Giants if he and Schoen can identify the right quarterback and bring him to the Giants.

There is one huge risk, though, in letting them try. It is, for me, the biggest for moving on.

Becoming the 2024 Chicago Bears.

Or, the 2023 Carolina Panthers.

Or, honestly, the Daniel Jones era Giants.

Whether it is Schoen and Daboll, Schoen and another coach, or a new regime entirely the Giants are almost certainly going to select a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. Whether this is a strong quarterback class or not, the Giants have backed themselves into that corner by not selecting one when they had the opportunity to put a quarterback of the future in place in the 2024 draft.

The difference big-time quarterback play can make has been evident all season as the Giants have lost close game after close game in which a couple of plays could have changed outcomes.

That difference was never more evident than on Sunday when two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson sliced up a weakened Giants’ defense for five touchdown passes and 65 yards rushing while the Giants were playing undrafted free agent Tommy DeVito and journeyman Tim Boyle.

Schoen and Daboll are just as capable of drafting Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders or Jalen Milroe as anyone else. It is what happens after that Giants’ ownership needs to be concerned about.

The Bears drafted Caleb Williams No. 1 overall last spring. Before Williams’ rookie season was over, head coach Matt Eberflus was fired. GM Ryan Poles might follow Eberflus out the door at season’s end.

A year ago, the Panthers drafted Bryce Young No. 1. Before Young’s disastrous 2-15 rookie season over, the GM (Scott Fitterer) and head coach (Frank Reich) who drafted him were out the door.

Young is showing signs of overcoming that this season, but both Williams and Young have been placed in situations where they have not been given the best opportunities to become the players they were drafted to be.

The same thing happened to Jones with the Giants.

Pat Shurmur was fired after his rookie season. Joe Judge came and went. The GM who drafted him was shown the door. There were myriad offensive coordinators. Jones had serious flaws, but the Giants never gave him the right support to maximize the skills he does have.

If the Giants keep Schoen and Daboll, it might work with the right rookie quarterback. They also, though, run the risk of putting that rookie quarterback in the spin cycle experienced by Young, Williams, and — yes — Jones.

That is the best argument for starting fresh.

What I think will happen

I think Schoen stays. I doubt ownership has an appetite for that level of change. There is an argument that Schoen’s 2024 draft, and the quality front office and scouting staff he has surrounded himself with, shows that he can succeed given time.

I am less sure about Daboll.

The results are, obviously, not good. The players who are playing are giving effort, but there is at this point a legitimate concern about whether or not the coach has lost at least some of the locker room.

Wan’Dale Robinson was asked after Sunday’s loss what he had learned about himself and his teammates during this miserable season. His answer was revealing.

“Who really loves football? That’s really one. That’s the biggest thing for sure,” Robinson said. “You see who shows up each and every day to come to work. At the end of the day, even though the season is somewhat over for playoffs, guys are still fighting for spots and fighting for jobs.

“I know I’m going to play in this league for a long time. I don’t really want to ever have a real job in my life. This is what I’m going to continue to do and go hard at.”

Robinson made it clear not all of his teammates are doing the same.

“I would say it’s more so disappointing,” he said. “Like I said, we’re all grown men and you’ve got a choice each and every day to come in and do what you’ve got to do or not. These are jobs. These are real-life jobs. There’s plenty of people out there that would love a job that we all have. So I can’t feel sorry for anybody …

“I still have plenty of love for Dabes and Joe.”

Can a coach who has lost some of the players reel them back in, either this year or next? Do those players have to go? Does the coach have to go?

Pairing Schoen with a new head coach of ownership’s choosing, which is where this might be headed, carries dangers of its own. The fraught, untenable relationship between Dave Gettleman and Judge was an example of that.

The Giants not only have to identify who their next quarterback is going to be. The harder part, though, is identifying the best way to put that quarterback on a path to success.

What is that path? Patience is hard, and risky. Blowing it up and starting over is easy, but the Giants have tried and failed at that multiple times in recent years.

We will find out soon enough what ownership thinks.