Coaching Matters

Let's be honest. If somebody had told you before the start of the season that the New York Giants would be in second place in the NFL East with a 6-1 record - the best start since '08 when they went 11-1 in their first twelve games - you'd have thought they were either drunk or nuts. Shit, I had 'em going 6-11 and I thought that was being overly optimistic. That's what being a fan of this franchise can do to people. And with only one winning season - 2016 - in the last ten can you really blame them?

Since Tom Coughlin was shown the door in 2015, three head coaches have come and gone: Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. Apart from McAdoo's inaugural season, when then GM Jerry Reese spent heavily on a revamped defense, they've all been brutal disasters. Judge was so bad, he was fired a week after the end of his second season.

So when John Mara and Steve Tisch decided to clean house - again - and brought in Joe Schoen as the new GM, the faithful weren't exactly beaming with confidence. But so far this season, Schoen's hires have turned the most ardent skeptics into believers. Head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale have transformed this moribund team. No longer are the Giants the laughingstock of the league. As of this writing, they are a legitimate threat to make the playoffs.

Of all the organized team sports, none is more dependent on coaching than football. You can have all the talent in the world, but if your coaches aren't competent, you're not going anywhere. To be clear, the Giants do NOT have the most talent in the NFL, not even close. But Daboll and company have gotten the most of what talent they have. With a healthy Saquon Barkley, a patchwork defense, a young and inexperienced offensive line, a quarterback with virtually zero pocket presence and a bunch of receivers who are throwaways at best, they have become the unsung story of the 2022 season.

The reclamation job Daboll and Kafka have done with Daniel Jones is nothing short of miraculous. Since Dave Gettleman selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, he has struggled to establish himself in the league. By giving him just enough rope, Daboll has allowed Jones to play to his strengths. The long bombs have been replaced with short, strategic passes; he runs for the first down instead of staying in the pocket; and when his receivers aren't open, he throws the ball away. In short, Jones has become an effective clock manager. He's no Patrick Mahomes, but with the system the Giants have designed around him, he doesn't have to be. Through the first seven games, Jones has had five game-winning drives - the most by a QB since 1950 - while throwing only two picks and fumbling the ball twice.

The offensive line has been a blemish on this team for years. Daboll's staff has turned that around too. Since the Cowboys game at MetLife in game three, in which Jones was sacked five times, the line has allowed only seven sacks in the last four games. Pass protection isn't the only thing that's improved. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team with the third best-best run defense in the league, the Giants rushed for 236 yards on 39 attempts, for a 6.1 average; 61 of those yards came on their final possession.

They've beaten Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson on consecutive weeks; their defense has made last-second stops to preserve wins; and their offense has run out the clock on opponents. Unlike past years, when they invented ways to lose, they have not beaten themselves once this season. This might be the most disciplined Giants team we've seen since the glory days of Bill Parcells. In fact, the more I think about Daboll, the more he reminds me of Parcells: a no-nonsense coach who demanded and got the most out of his players. If he isn't coach of the year, there should be an investigation. 

Look, it's still early in the season; we're not even at the halfway point yet. But this team is for real. Their resiliency is matched only by their belief in each other. If Barkley stays healthy, there's no telling where they might finish. 11-6? 12-5? Who knows?

It's been a very long time since Giants' fans have had something to cheer about. Thanks to Brian Daboll, there's finally hope in Big Blue land.

The Pressure is on John Mara and Steve Tisch Now More Than Ever

Now that the Ren and Stimpy Show has been canceled at MetLife Stadium, the real work begins. The New York Giants, owners of the worst win-loss record in the NFL over the last five seasons at 22-59, are in the market for a new G.M. and a new head coach at the same time. That hasn't happened since 1978 when head coach John McVay was fired and G.M. Andy Robustelli was allowed to "retire."

If you recall - and the memory has been seared into my consciousness for decades - the Giants were the laughingstock of the league that season. Come to think of it: they were the laughingstock of the league for six years running. But 1978 took the cake. That was the year of "The Fumble" - the double reverse handoff to Larry Csonka that wound up in the waiting hands of Herman Edwards of the Eagles who ran it in for the winning touchdown. 

That stunt would prove be the last straw for Wellington Mara and his nephew Tim. After the season, they commenced to find someone who could reverse the team's fortunes. The problem was the two couldn't agree on who was best qualified. After a bitter public feud, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle stepped in and appointed George Young to run the football operations. Young would subsequently hire Ray Perkins as his head coach. And so marked the beginning of what would become the most stable period in the franchise's storied existence since its glory days of the 1950s and early '60s.

Perkins in his third year got them in the playoffs before leaving to coach Alabama the following season. Defensive co-ordinator Bill Parcells was promoted to HC and guided them to two Super Bowl wins in 1986 and 1990 before resigning. Young's specialty was drafting and during his tenure, the Giants drafted the likes of Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.

Young eventually stepped down as G.M. after the 1997 season, and it was his successor, Ernie Accorsi, who, like his predecessor, assembled the makings of a championship-caliber team that included Tom Coughlin as coach and Eli Manning as quarterback. That team would go on to win two more Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011. 

When Accorsi retired in '07, Jerry Reese took over the reigns. But unlike Accorsi and Young, Reese was a lousy talent evaluator. His draft selections, with a few notable exceptions, were dreadful, and after the 2011 season, the team began to decline, making the playoffs once in ten years. Reese was eventually fired in 2017 and replaced by Dave Gettleman, who in his relatively brief four-year stint managed to make things even worse.

And this, my dear Guinevere, is where we came in. A franchise wrecked by poor management, inept coaching and bereft of talent is now in tatters. The parallels to 1978 are unmistakable. It'd be easy to say things can't get any worse, but sadly that's not true. If there's one thing we know about professional sports, it's that the pit is bottomless. If you think 4-13 is bad, try 2-15 on for size; or perhaps even, dare I say it, 0-17. Don't laugh, it can happen, because it has.

That's why these next few weeks are critical for both John Mara and Steve Tisch. The two co-owners must work together to find the right man who can rebuild this once proud franchise. The pressure couldn't be greater, especially since they aren't the only ones looking for a G.M. Both the Vikings and the Bears cleaned house after their disappointing seasons as well. Misery, it appears, does love company.

Fortunately, there is an abundance of potential candidates out there from which to choose and Mara, to his credit, is looking outside the organization. He's already reached out to several teams in an attempt to get a head start. Indeed, the Giants have already interviewed Buffalo Bills Assistant G.M. Joe Schoen, and have asked permission to speak with Kansas City Chiefs Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles. Both men would be excellent choices, especially Poles who, if he's hired, could entice Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to join him in New York as his head coach. Bieniemy is considered one of the best and brightest offensive minds in the league, and if there's one thing the Giants desperately need, it's someone who knows how to run an offense.

Whoever gets chosen is going to have his work cut out for him. Gettleman not only screwed the pooch, he took out a four-year mortgage on it. The Giants went crazy last year signing players who didn't pan out, and because they got creative with the cap, they're going to be in cap hell for the foreseeable future. And that means any hope the fans have of seeing Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson in a Giants uniform next season will have to remain the stuff of dreams. Like Young, the next G.M. will have to go through the draft to repair the damage.

And that's why as difficult as these last few years have been to watch, things might not get much better next season. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will the Giants. When you clean house, it takes time to put in place an infrastructure that can endure. Remember, it took Young eight years before he could deliver a Super Bowl. Expectations, both for the fanbase and ownership, will have to be managed. Incremental progress will be the catch phrase. It's worth noting that the last last three coaches this franchise hired - Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge - all regressed in their second season. By comparison both Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin had losing records their first season, only to reach the postseason in year two, followed by a championship two years after that.

That's how this typically works. You take your lumps early, while you construct the building blocks that inevitably leads to a parade outside your stadium. Successful franchises know this, which is why they can survive the odd bad year or two. As disappointing as the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints were in 2021, both teams have the right personnel in place to rebound next season. 

And speaking of the right personnel, the Pittsburgh Steelers have them in droves. Their head coach, Mike Tomlin, has not had a single losing season in 15 years. He didn't accomplish that with smoke and mirrors, or by referring to other teams as "clown shows," or by calling consecutive quarterback sneaks on second and third and long deep in his own end. He did it because he knows how to motivate his players to win.

Look, this isn't rocket science. When you hire the right people, good things tend to happen. John Mara needs to find the right man, and that right man needs to hire a lot more right men to turn this shipwreck of a franchise around.

End of an Era.

Before I proceed to slice and dice the New York Giants for the brutal way in which they handled this whole, ugly affair, I wanted to say a few things about Eli Manning first.

With the exception of Lawrence Taylor, who was the best defensive player I ever saw play the game, no one had a bigger or more profound impact on this franchise than number 10. Eli was a class act and a true professional. He's the only quarterback in NFL history who can boast with pride that he beat Tom Brady twice in the Super Bowl. And I'm also pretty sure he's the only quarterback who went into Lambeau Field twice and beat Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers in a playoff game; the former in sub-freezing conditions, the latter against a 15-1 team. Had Jerry Reese done a better job of drafting offensive linemen during his tenure, Manning might well have won a third title, that's how good he was.

Many "critics" have opined about how Manning's skills have deteriorated over the last few years. You try getting your ass pile driven into the turf six, seven, eight times a game and let's see how your skills hold up. The fact that he hasn't missed a game due to injury in his entire 16 year career is nothing short of miraculous, given how little protection he's had the last six seasons. Were it not for Ben McAdoo's decision to bench him for, of all players, Gino Smith in 2017, he would've entered week three of this season having started 233 consecutive games, second only behind Favre. Not bad for a guy the so-called experts said was overrated.

For all the talk about how great the David Tyree and Mario Manningham catches were in Super Bowls 42 and 46 respectively - and they were great - the fact is that it was Manning who delivered both throws. The Manningham ball, in particular, was perfectly placed. Had it been thrown slightly to the left, Manningham would not have been able to catch it; had it been just to the right, it would've been batted away. Without those plays, the Patriots and not the Giants would've won both games. That's why Manning, and not Brady, was the MVP in those contests. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, New England fans.

On behalf of every Giants fan out there, I wanted to say thank you, Eli, for all the great memories. I still have your jersey and I will wear it proudly this Sunday when your team goes up against Tampa. Daniel Jones has some mighty big shoes to fill.

And now onto the main course.

Once more, this franchise botched what should've been a graceful transition. Dave Gettleman's refusal to admit that the Giants were in rebuilding mode when he took control over a year ago, meant that the team was compelled to retain Manning and his $23 million salary going into this season. It's now painfully obvious that he was going to select a quarterback in this year's draft, having passed on one last year. Fine, I have no problem with that. I'll say it again: Saquon Barkley was the best player in the 2018 draft. You don't pass on a generational player like that.

But if Gettleman was determined to choose a quarterback in 2019, he should've jettisoned Manning before the season began and put that money to work where it was sorely needed: the secondary. It was inevitable, given how well Jones performed during the preseason, that he was going to eventually be named the starter. Gettleman could've chosen to do what the Jets did a year earlier: let his number one draft pick learn how to be a successful quarterback under center rather than on the sidelines. I'm not saying the Giants' record would've been any better with Jones as the starter, but at least the expectations would've been set a whole lot lower.

So now this team, with arguably the worst secondary in the league and a front seven that at best is below average, has a $23 million quarterback riding the bench and a rookie quarterback at the helm. And for that, owner John Mara must take full responsibility. It was undoubtedly his call to keep Manning this season, rather than release him and allow him to sign with another NFL team that could've used his services. Imagine Eli taking over the reigns in Pittsburgh, where Ben Roethlisberger is done for the season. Or perhaps landing in Jacksonville to take over for Nick Foles, who is also out for the remainder of the year. How sweet would it have been to see Eli reunited with Tom Coughlin? Now he's forced to sit while Jones starts in his place. If you don't think that's humiliating, you've never watched a football game in your life. There are bench players in this league that are treated better.

Face it: the Giants are the laughing stock of the NFL. Their ownership and G.M. have managed to take a bad football team and somehow make it worse. Going into this season I thought they might go 7-9. As things stand now, they'll be lucky if they match last year's record of 5-11. But one thing's for certain, the man who proudly wore number 10 for 16 seasons had nothing to do with this train wreck. In fact, had his team performed with the same level of professionalism he exhibited game in and game out, I dare say the Giants would be one of the league's premier teams; right up there with the Patriots.

Reese's Pieces

So now that Tom Coughlin has "resigned" as Giants' head coach, the sixty-four thousand question that begs to be answered is why didn't Jerry Reese "resign" as well. Because if it's fair game to hold Coughlin accountable for how the wheels came off this season, it's only reasonable to hold Reese accountable for providing the wheels in the first place.

Look, Coughlin did a poor job this year. That's fairly obvious, but he didn't exactly have the '72 Dolphins to work with. It is the G.M.'s job to give his coach the tools to win and Reese has done a lousy job. The offense, save for Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr, is paper thin, and the once vaunted defense is the worst in the NFL. That wasn't Coughlin's fault. Indeed, the two-time Superbowl-winning coach had almost no support from his front office. Jerry Reese took the reigns from Ernie Accorsi who had carefully built two championship teams.

In addition to drafting Manning, the list of players Accorsi either drafted or signed includes Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Antonio Pierce, Chris Snee, Plaxico Burress, Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. He also hired Coughlin. By comparison, Reese brought in Victor Cruz, Jason Pierre Paul and Beckham and little more. While all three were considerable additions, they weren't nearly enough to propel the team by themselves. As Accorsi's players either retired or departed for other teams, Reese's replacements couldn't cut it.

Whoever the Giants pick to coach the team in 2016, this much is certain: if Reese doesn't do a considerably better job at bringing in talent, the results will be the same. Another disappointing season and another year in which Eli Manning will not have a shot at winning a Superbowl. The Mara family has a long history of being patient, sometimes to a fault, with their employees. They certainly showed that patience with Coughlin. Virtually any other coach would've been fired a year or two ago. Just look at what happened to Chip Kelly after just one losing season in Philadelphia. But their reluctance to fire Reese might well come back to haunt them. While Reese may be only the third general manager since 1979, he is by far the least effective.

And now he is tasked with rebuilding a team he had a huge role in dismembering.