Giants co-owner John Mara was part of a group that interviewed nearly a dozen candidates for general manager and a half-dozen for head coach, all in the span of three weeks’ time.
And as the hire for the former, Joe Schoen, introduced the latter, Brian Daboll, on Monday, Mara seemed happy with his selections.
“We’ve got the head coach and the GM, and they’re off to a good start. Their communication is very natural, and they like each other,” Mara said Monday after the intro presser. “They know each other's philosophies. They have a similar vision going forward, so I think we're off to a good start with both of these guys.”
Mara spoke about Schoen last week after hiring him, and in Daboll, he thinks he has a “genuine man” who will “fit in well.”
“He's very genuine, down to earth. He believes in having relationships with people and he's a people person and I think he's going to fit very well in the building,” Mara said. “I think he's very inspirational, too. I think he'll get the guys to perform to the best of their abilities.”
Daboll is another Belichick/Saban disciple, as was Joe Judge, and quite frankly, that tree has not produced a lot of good fruit – perhaps including Brian Flores, who also interviewed for the job after being fired by Miami.
So, if, as Mara said, the team interviewed “five terrific candidates” and the team “would have been comfortable with” any one of them, what makes Daboll different?
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“I think his background and ability to work with Joe, and what he did with Josh Allen and that entire Buffalo offense,” Mara said. “Plus his presence, which I think you saw as he was up on that stage. I think all those things combine to give him the best chance at having success. Obviously, you never know until they get in and they start playing games and stuff, but we like what we've seen so far. What he’s accomplished in Buffalo and his track record with Joe, I think that’s what tipped the scales at the end of the day.”
Daboll worked under Schoen for the last four years in Buffalo and their relationship goes back to both being in Miami in 2011, so there’s something to be said for that long-term familiarity.
“You have to have a general manager and a head coach that can communicate with one another, that respect one another and that are going to collaborate on all of the important decisions of the day,” Mara said. “I have a lot of confidence that that will be the case with these two.”
Beyond that, it's perhaps that notion of Allen’s development that is most important to some, hoping Daniel Jones can benefit the same way, and Mara noted it as a big factor.
“That’s his job here; we have a quarterback that we have a lot of confidence in, who has had some issues here, mostly due to the way we've handled him,” Mara said. “A big part of Brian's job is going to be to try to get the most out of Daniel and put us in a position where we can make a fair evaluation of him. We haven't been able to do that so far because of the way we've handled him.”
Perhaps, the right combo of GM, head coach and quarterback is the formula to success…or at least so Mara thinks, as he hopes the new duo and Jones can replicate Buffalo, where Schoen (under Brandon Beane) and Daboll (under Sean McDermott) helped Allen become an All-Pro caliber signal-called.
Regardless of whether they can do so, though, the important thing is finding a way to turn a moribund franchise around.
“I feel a lot of pressure to do that. I always feel pressure going into every season and given our recent history, probably more so than ever do I feel that right now,” Mara said. “I think we have the right guys in place. Now, we just have to give them the resources to let them do their jobs.”
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Step one: building a good culture, and getting the right pieces in place to do so.
“I’m going to let them make that determination. I think they both believe that there are a lot of good pieces in the building, on the team, but that we certainly have some shortcomings that we're going to have to address,” Mara said. “Fortunately, we have some draft capital that will help us do that, but I'm not looking at this as an overnight turnaround. This is going to be a process and however long it takes is going to be up to them.”
So, then, with two new hires in 21 days and a new era afoot, does Mara think he’s given the Big Blue fan base a reason to believe better days are ahead?
“Yes, but that only lasts until we start playing games. The reaction obviously has been positive so far, but that only goes so far,” he said. “I think we're off to a good start, but that'll go away quickly if we don't get off to a good start during the season. I think we've got the right guys in place now and it's up to us to make it work.”
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