Oh, how different things could have been if John Mara never offered a job to Dave Gettleman back in 2017. At the time, the NY Giants were interviewing potential general managers, with Gettleman landing the position. Things, to put it lightly, were a rol
One of the guys in contention was Louis Riddick and it turns out he had a legendary coach in mind to run the show for him if he was hired: Nick Saban. Gettleman ended up hiring Pat Shurmur, who went 9-23 in two seasons before being fired. So, you mean to tell us we could have had Saban at MetLife if Riddick had his say in things? Come on!
Louis Riddick says if he had gotten the Giants GM job, Nick Saban was going to be the head coach he recommended to ownership 👀 https://t.co/CbVwt7JAw7
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 18, 2024
Louis Riddick would have targeted Nick Saban as head coach if he landed the Giants GM job
We're going to be saying, 'what could have been' for the rest of the month because of this. Gettleman's tenure as GM could not have gone worse, as Giants fans had to endure a stretch of terrible football. Gettleman held the position from 2018-2021 and that time was filled with awful memories.
Joe Schoen replaced him and the Giants were able to reach the postseason in his first year - that should speak volumes to the job Schoen and Co. have been able to get done in such a short time, with Brian Daboll winning Coach of the Year in '22.
Can you imagine if the Riddick/Saban combo would have been in charge, though? Saban is one of the most legendary coaches of all time. After winning countless titles with Alabama, the 72-year-old leader just decided to retire earlier this month.
However, an NFL return with him with the Giants would have been epic. We'll never know what might have been able to go down if Saban was the NY head coach, but we can almost guarantee that he would have been a better option than both Shurmur and Joe Judge.