New York Giants’ Owner John Mara gave his annual end-of-the-season press conference Wednesday, as sweeping changes begin for his organization
The New York Giants are in a state of array.
They have become a puzzling franchise to understand their personnel moves and executive decisions. They also offer little clarity in lieu of the concerning abyss they have entered.
John Mara spoke Tuesday in an official press conference for the first time since the beginning of the season. The Giants were exuding optimism in August despite the troubling signs on the wall of injuries, offensive line concerns, and overall incoherence.
Mara and the New York Giants decided NOT to allow the team media to stream the press conference live, nor was NFL Network permitted to stream it, and WFAN was told not to air it live as confirmed by ex-NY Giants’ player himself, Tiki Barber.
It was a bad look to not give live access to the national viewing audience and it was another direct message to the fans that they are being suppressed from what’s become a toxic situation.
Mara spoke at lengths about a variety of topics today but it sounded eerily similar to his end of the year press conferences from 2018 and 2020. We know how both of those experiments ended up failing.
Key Takeaways from New York Giants owner John Mara’s Press Conference:
John Mara knows he has A LOT of work to do
Make no mistake about it, Mara is at least somewhat aware of the dire situation his franchise has fallen to under his watch.
Mara self-admitted today that he and the team’s ownership has lost respect and credibility. He went as far as admitting that the team has to again earn back the fan’s trust, something he has said before in the past.
John Mara said they need to earn back the fans' trust. "That's not going to happen overnight." It starts with getting the GM and head coach right.
— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) January 12, 2022
Mara acknowledged that earning back the fan’s trust and confidence in his plan and vision for the future of this team and its leaders will not occur overnight. He needs to hit on both the GM and head coach jobs and make sure they have the right people in place to lead this team out of the rut they are in and fix an offense that hit rock-bottom.
New York Giants won’t force any decisions on new GM, Head Coach jobs
The New York Giants are in the market for a new GM and head coach for the first time since 2018. Gettleman and Pat Shurmur were not the right people for the job and their tenures both ended ugly.
This time around, Mara is casting a much wider net for his GM search. He even claimed the team won’t be able to interview “20 percent” of the candidates that have expressed interest in the job or interviewing for the position.
Regardless of whoever they choose, the GM is going to be selected first. From there, the GM is going to select the team’s new head coach.
John Mara: It is not going to be a package deal. We want to run a thorough interview process, and interview as many people as possible.
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) January 12, 2022
(On possibility of pairing a GM with head coach) #Giants #NFL
Whoever they choose as the new GM, it may not necessarily be a package deal with any specific head coach.
Mara said that the new GM isn’t automatically going to select a current or former colleague and it could be two different people with different resumes and backgrounds. Mara wants to take his time to conduct an extensive search (something he said they didn’t do in the ‘past’). However, he may not have the time if and when candidates start signing up with other teams.
It will be interesting to see who Mara goes with as the new GM. It will be the team’s biggest move in a long time and they need to find the right person to lead them into the 2022 season and beyond.
John Mara was bitterly disappointed with how this season went
The New York Giants’ 2021 season was an all-time organizational failure from top to bottom. Too many miscalculations, too much drama, and unneeded distractions, and far too much losing.
After an offseason of hope, excitement, a free agent spending spree, and a boatload of draft picks, it was greatly expected from ownership that the team would improve across the board this year. Instead, they fell on their behinds and smacked their faces right into the dirt.
Mara admitted that firing Joe Judge wasn’t an easy or light decision. They truly wanted to make it work but they felt the situation became broken and untenable. Unfortunately, there was no way forward from here in the ownership’s eyes.
John Mara said he didn't see a clear way out. They had to blow it all up and get a new HC with a new GM. "We need to start from the ground up again."
— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) January 12, 2022
Mara “did not see a clear way out” of the Joe Judge conundrum and possibly forced him onto a new GM as a lame-duck head coach on a scorching hot seat. It would’ve been a lose-lose situation and the Giants decided to clean house and start over with a new GM-HC pairing. “We need to start from the ground up again” is something NY Giants’ fans may not want to hear but they must understand that there is no easy fix or answer to solve all the team’s myriad of issues.