Joe Schoen spent the early parts of this week conducting head coaching interviews and preparing for Wednesday’s introductory press conference as the new Giants general manager.
With his focus on rebuilding Big Blue, Schoen didn’t realize one of the top head coaches in football has suddenly left New Orleans, with Sean Payton stepping down from his position with the Saints.
“I was fast and furious yesterday, I had no idea he resigned,” Schoen said. “I found out at about 10:00 last night.”
Once news broke of Payton’s resignation, talks picked up quickly over where Payton could end up next, especially when the former Super Bowl champion told reporters that he could see himself coaching again in the NFL. New York is still in need of a head coach, but Schoen said all signs point to Payton taking at least a year off from head coaching, and he is not on Big Blue’s radar
“What I read and watched is that he’s gonna take the year off, and he’s currently under contract with the New Orleans Saints, so there would have to be some type of draft compensation,” Schoen told Tiki and Tierney on Wednesday. “Right now, we like the candidates we have and the process we have in place, so that’s something we haven’t explored.”
Tierney followed up asking the new Giants GM whether it was at least worth exploring with Payton in the form of a simple phone call, but Schoen made it clear that he has heard enough to convince him that Payton won’t be coaching in the NFL next season, and he and the Giants will move forward with their current list of candidates and continue their interview process this week.
“I don’t disagree with you,” Schoen said. “What I was told from people in the league is that he’s gonna sit out a year. Again, that’s second-hand, somebody that talked to somebody in the organization…people in the know say he is going to take a year off.”
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