ORLANDO – John Mara downplayed the Giants’ coaching staff dysfunction on Monday and threw his support behind GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll entering Year Three of their regime.
“Last season was a huge disappointment to me, especially coming off a playoff year,” the Giants’ co-owner said at the NFL Owners Meetings. “But I still believe we’re headed in the right direction, and I have all the confidence in the world in Joe and his staff and in Brian Daboll and his staff.”
Mara cited Schoen’s and Daboll’s “terrific” communication and “great” process. He glossed over Daboll’s destructive gameday and sideline behavior, numerous issues with coaches and rampant staff changes and departures from 2023.
“Obviously you don’t want to have as much turnover as we had, but he wanted to make some changes so we let him go ahead and do that,” Mara said. “I wish it would have been a little less public, but I don’t believe it was a major issue. I don’t think it affects the culture we have in the building at all.”
He blamed last year’s poor offense on a lack of talent and injuries. He said the sign of progress he saw on the field was that “the players continue to play hard for” Daboll.
And he said “I wish it would have ended differently” with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale because Mara valued him prior to his resignation.
“I happen to like Wink. I think he did a really good job for us,” Mara said. “I was hoping he’d be back this season. But he made the decision he did and I respect him for it. And we move on.”
Schoen and Daboll both need to make improvements in 2024 after a 6-11 season, though, from roster construction to game and staff management and offensive output.
So it’s not like Mara doesn’t expect significant progress. He just said he’s not putting a specific number on it.
“I view them as trying to build a team and trying to make progress every year,” the co-owner said. “It’s not always going to be a straight line going up. Obviously we took a step back last year, but I have every confidence that they’re on the right track. I don’t give them any mandates of ‘You have to win so many games.’ I say the same thing every year: At the end of the year, I want to feel like we’re moving in the right direction.”
Interestingly, Mara said he does not necessarily view Schoen and Daboll as a package deal, however, even though they came to New York together from Buffalo.
That leaves the door open for one of them to have less job security than the other if things keep going south.
“I certainly don’t see them as a package deal,” he said. “I mean, they did come in together, obviously. They did work together [in Buffalo]. But they both have different jobs, different responsibilities, and they could have different levels of success. But I still have all the confidence in them.”
He also said the desire to have continuity for a rookie quarterback the Giants might draft in the future won’t be a factor in deciding Daboll’s status in the future.
“Well I mean, even if we draft someone, I expect Daniel [Jones] to be the starting quarterback when the season starts,” Mara said. “So he’ll still get all the reps in the world. This is assuming he’s healthy, which we think he’ll be ready for training camp. So I don’t see that being a factor.”
Mara also said he hasn’t made any assurances to Schoen and Daboll despite his confidence in them.
“I think you always have to give them positive reinforcement from time to time, and I think I have done that,” he said. “Have I made them any guarantees? No I haven’t. But I think they both know that I believe in them.”
That said, Mara’s support for Daboll is significant for the coach given all of the negativity that surrounded his management of this past season.
The question now is what Daboll will do with that second chance. He is scheduled to address the New York media at Tuesday morning’s NFC Coaches Breakfast for the first time since the end of the season.
“I speak to him all the time,” Mara said of Daboll. “I want him to be himself at the end of the day. And if I ever get to the point where I think he’s acting irrationally and it’s affecting his performance, I certainly would have a word with him about it. But I have not seen that.”
