The won-loss record cannot be justified.
“We stunk this year,’’ Giants co-owner John Mara said Monday morning.
No one can argue with that assessment. Yes, the Giants in their 100th year of operation finished 3-14 — the most losses in a season in franchise history — but Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch made the decision to run it back with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
“I understand, believe me, that’s not going to be the most popular decision in Giant-land,’’ Mara said. “But we believe it’s the right decision for us going forward.’’
Mara met Friday afternoon with Schoen and Daboll “for several hours’’ and then had a conversation with Tisch. There were more discussions over the weekend.
“And just came to the decision that staying with both of them is the best course of action for us right now,’’ Mara said.
Clearly, Mara could not stomach another search and new hires and another acclimation process and another regime change. His desire for stability and continuity, though, would not make any sense if he did not actually believe in the people he is keeping in the building.
“In Brian’s case, he was the Coach of the Year two years ago,’’ Mara said. “That didn’t disappear all of a sudden. I still believe he can do that again.
“Listen, I’m at practice all the time, I go to the team meetings, I watch the players, I watch how they react. I still think he’s the right guy to lead us. If I’m sitting here a year from now, you’re asking me these questions, I’ll take the heat.’’
The case for Schoen?
“In Joe’s case, I thought we had an outstanding draft class this year, I thought we had a really good free agency period and I really like the staff he’s put together,’’ Mara said. “I think they’re the right two guys going forward.’’
Some of this has to be a leap of faith. Mara could not even state he believes the roster is better now than when Schoen took over three years ago.
“How can I say that it’s better if we win three games?’’ he said. “We need to win more games for us to be able to prove that point. But there’s just a better feeling in the building now that we’ve got the right pieces in place. We have a lot of holes to fill and that’s what this offseason is going to be about.’’
After last season’s 6-11 record, Mara said he wanted to see signs of progress and see tangible signs that the franchise was headed in the right direction. Then the Giants endured a franchise record 10-game losing streak and lost 14 games. What signs of progress could he have seen?
“Certainly, the signs were not based on our record,’’ Mara said,
Mara knows sticking with the status quo will not be widely embraced by the fan base. The Giants are 18-32-1 in the three years with Schoen assembling the roster and Daboll working with the players going from nine to six to three wins the past three years.
The planes flying overhead carrying messages before two late-season games at MetLife Stadium — demanding Mara fire everyone — did not move the needle with him.
“Listen, I didn’t need planes flying over me to tell me how upset the fans are,’’ Mara said.
“It’s a bottom-line business. You’re judged on what your record is and our record is pretty lousy right now. I get that and I take responsibility for that. When you make these changes and God knows we’ve made ’em in the past and been impatient in the past, when you do that you feel like you take one step forward and two steps back and I just didn’t want to do that.’’
Mara said he was tired of seeing opposing offenses move up and down the field on the Giants defense, which might not bode well for first-year defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Mara also said he mentioned to Daboll that perhaps he should consider giving up the play-calling on offense.
The Giants have the No. 3 overall pick in the draft and Mara made it clear that finding a quarterback is a high priority.
“That’s obviously the No. 1 issue for us going into this offseason, to find our quarterback of the future, whether that be via the draft or acquiring a veteran,’’ Mara said, “That’s gonna be up to them to decide.’’
The Giants had the No. 1 pick in their grasp heading into Week 17, but then they beat the Colts, which dropped them out of the top spot, making it far more difficult to land quarterback Shedeur Sanders. There was no thought in Mara’s mind that his team should lose in order to retain that top pick.
“If I had thought we were tanking either one of those games I would have fired everybody,’’ Mara said. “We are never going to do that in this organization as long as I am standing on this side of the grass.’’
How long do Daboll and Schoen get to turn around the franchise?
“It better not take too long,’’ Mara said, “because I’ve just about run out of patience.’’
