ORLANDO, Fla. — How much confidence?
Unwavering, it sounds like.
For those who want to take general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll and fashion a hot seat for them and their futures with the Giants, there is the primary decision-maker in the franchise expressing something quite different.
“Certainly last season was a huge disappointment to me, especially coming off of a playoff year,’’ co-owner John Mara said Monday afternoon at the NFL owners’ meeting. “I still believe we’re headed in the right direction and I have all the confidence in Joe and his staff and in Brian Daboll and his staff. I think the communication is terrific, I think the process they go through is great and I do think we’re headed in the right direction. Obviously until we start winning games not everyone’s gonna buy into that but I happen to believe it.’’
The buy-in was far easier to sell at this time a year ago.
The last time Mara spoke with the media in a public forum was at these meetings one year ago in Phoenix and the tone of the conversation was quite different.
The Giants were coming off a 9-7-1 season and their first playoff victory in 11 years.
Daboll had recently been named the NFL’s Coach of the Year and he and Schoen were heaped with praise for their turnaround they achieved in their first year in their jobs.
Daniel Jones was newly signed to a four-year deal worth $160 million. Saquon Barkley was secured for the 2023 season.
It felt as if the arrow for the franchise was pointing up.
We all know what transpired and how that arrow got bent backwards as the Giants slumped to 6-11, Jones suffered another neck injury and then a torn ACL, decisions made by Daboll and moves made by Schoen did not click as they had a year earlier.
Barkley moved on to the rival Eagles and Jones, while expected to be healed for opening day, is expected to begin the season as the starting quarterback but his hold on the position is tenuous, at best, with the Giants thinking long and hard about selecting a quarterback up high in next month’s NFL Draft.
Just like that, the first-year wonders were second-year stumblers.
Mara is not into issuing votes of confidence but he gave no indication whatsoever that he is assigning blame to the braintrust he hired to fix what has been a decade-long spate of losing.
“I think you always have to give them positive reinforcement from time to time and I think I have done that,’’ Mara said. “Have I made them any guarantees? No, I haven’t. But I think they both know that I believe in them.’’
It was a turbulent postseason for Daboll. He fired two of his three coordinators, with Wink Martindale’s departure after two years running the defense particularly distasteful, with Martindale cursing out Daboll as he stormed out of the office.
Daboll’s comportment on the sideline and the way he treats his coaching staff came into question as the losses piled up last season and hints of unrest in the ranks bubbled to the surface.
“There are times where I wish he would tone it down a little bit but I’m also in the team meetings and I see how he acts around people and his coaches in the office,’’ Mara said. “He always maintains his cool there. Does he get excitable during the games sometimes? Yeah. So do I. I don’t think it’s a major issue.’’
Mara, who is in the building and watches practice every day, said he believes the Daboll-Martindale conflict was “overblown’’ in terms of how they interacted during the season.
“I mean, were there times when they had some disagreements?’’ Mara said. “Yeah, but not to the point where it became an issue. After the season did it blow up? Absolutely it did, as you know. But I never felt it was a big issue during the season at all.”
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