Giants co-owner John Mara now has two big jobs to fill within the organization, with general manager Dave Gettleman “retiring” after a disastrous second tenure shortly before head coach Joe Judge was fired on Tuesday.
Mara will hope to get it right this time with his important hires that will hopefully lead New York through what has been a tumultuous rebuild so far, but he will set his sights on the GM position first, and won’t be looking to make both hires at once.
“There are no package deals,” Mara told reporters during Wednesday’s press conference. “We want to get the general manager ideally done first, and obviously we’ll talk about the candidates for head coach, but it’s not gonna be a package deal.”
The New York Post reported on Tuesday that the Giants have list of candidates for the GM position, which will be hired from outside the organization. Near the top of the list, per The Post, includes Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen, while the team has also reportedly requested interviews with Chiefs executive director for player personnel Ryan Pole and Titans VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden, as well as Tennessee’s director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort.
“I want to go through a complete process here, and interview as many people as possible.,” Mara said. “I don’t want to rush into anything. We’ve made that mistake in the past, and I want to make sure we get to see as many candidates as possible, ideally.”
Mara clearly feels he didn’t take enough time in choosing the best candidate the last time around, and this time, will look to finally push the right button for a general manager who will help find the right head coach to lead Big Blue out of one of its darkest times in franchise history.
“We haven’t necessarily made the right choices,” Mara said. “Looking back on our priocess, I wish it had been more extensive and seen more people, and maybe taken our time with it more. We’re going to try and not make that mistake this time.
“I feel very good about the group of candidates for the general manager position that we have scheduled now. I think any one of them would make for an excellent general manager. I’m confident that we have the resources to make the right choice here.”
As for those that will be replaced, particularly Judge, Mara said it wasn’t an easy discussion, nor one that was brought on by a singular incident, but affirmed that it was time to move on and begin the search for the new Giants regime.
“It’s gut-wrenching for me,” Mara said. “It’s been gut-wrenching for me every time I’ve had to do it, and obviously I’ve had to do it far too often lately. That’s why we’re in that process again, and we’re gonna get it right this time.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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