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Joe Schoen, the newest Giants general manager, stood alone at a podium in the middle of the team’s field house for his introductory press conference on Wednesday.
Over his right shoulder in the background hung a huge banner honoring the 1986 Super Bowl 21 championship team with a list of every player and coach on it. Over his left shoulder hung a matching banner honoring their 1990 Super Bowl 25 title team.
That reminder of good old days — the continuity of two Super Bowl titles in such a short span during a period when the team was defined by sustained success, a sentiment echoed by the 2007 and 2011 title teams — hung heavily in the air inside the facility.
Because continuity is something that has been as difficult to come by inside the Giants organization as touchdowns have been for the offense the past two seasons.
Joe Judge was fired this month after two seasons as the head coach. Before him, Pat Shurmur lasted two seasons. And before Shurmur, it was Ben McAdoo not even making it through his second season.
In 2018, the Giants hired Dave Gettleman, a former old hand of theirs, as their general manager. Gettleman re-entered the organization, for whom he’d worked in pro personnel for more than a decade, speaking and acting like someone who’d just won the previous five Super Bowls.
There was an air of arrogance to Gettleman, who was well into the back nine of his career, and that arrogance, mixed in with a roll call of bad decisions, quickly eroded the franchise, as evidenced by its 19-46 record on his watch.
Enter Schoen, who’s 42 and in the sweet spot of his career as an NFL executive after four seasons helping build the Bills into one of the powers of the AFC.
Schoen, by all accounts from those who know him best and by the way he conducted himself Wednesday in his first public appearance as Giants GM, appears to be everything Gettleman wasn’t. He’s wide-eyed, eminently cognizant that he doesn’t have all the answers and hungry to get the job done.
Schoen sounded appreciative beyond words that the Giants have given him this opportunity, calling it “definitely surreal’’ to be in this position right now.
Schoen looks like someone who’s going to be here a while, and Giants owner John Mara would like nothing more than that.
“I’m dying to get off of this train,’’ Mara said of this cycle of change every two years. “I hate being in the position that we’re in right now. I want continuity, I want somebody who’s going to be in the building for a long period of time. I don’t want to do another one of these press conferences for many, many years.
“So, yes that is a consideration for us.’’
So, too, is the Giants’ quarterback, Daniel Jones, who Mara hopes Schoen and the head coach he hires will be able to salvage in his fourth NFL season. Jones, more than any player on the Giants, has been victim of the franchise’s stunning lack of continuity the past three years.
“We’ve done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here,’’ Mara said in one of the most refreshingly frank admissions you’ll ever hear from a team owner. “We keep changing coaches, keep changing offensive coordinators, keep changing offensive line coaches. I take a lot of responsibility for that.
“But let’s bring in the right group of coaches now and give him some continuity and try to rebuild the offensive line and then be able to make an intelligent evaluation of whether he can be the franchise quarterback or not.’’
Mara made it clear he’s delivered no mandate for wins or playoff berths to his new general manager.
“I’m looking at this as a process,’’ Mara said. “I haven’t told him, ‘Joe, we better make the playoffs next year otherwise you’re out of here.’ I expect us to be a heck of a lot better than four wins next year, but I haven’t given him any specific number that he has to achieve. I want him to build the thing the right way and give us a chance for sustained success.’’
It’s early, of course. The Giants don’t have a game for nearly nine months. They haven’t even hired a head coach yet. But if you’re a Giants fan, you have little choice but to think positive thoughts about what Schoen can bring to the franchise.
“He has really strong communication skills, and is going to be able to unite the building,’’ Mara said. “The communication hasn’t been the greatest in the building over the last couple of years [read: Gettleman], and I think with Joe’s addition that’ll get straightened out.’’
There’s much to straighten out before the Giants can realistically think about hanging another one of those big banners in the field house. But if they can keep Schoen around here for a while and build back the continuity that’s been missing, maybe they can think about making room for another one of those things to be hung.
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