When asked whether the 2021 season was one of the most embarrassing he has seen from the New York Giants, owner and CEO John Mara paused for a beat before answering, "Yes, yes it is. I kept thinking during the season we hit rock bottom and then each week it got a little worse."
Mara sounded both contrite, exhausted and frustrated during a 20-minute news conference with reporters the day after he and co-owner Steve Tisch fired head coach Joe Judge after two years on the job. The firing of Judge echos a full house cleaning for Big Blue after General Manager David Gettleman "retired" at the end of the season on Sunday.
"We've gotten into this process for too often recently," Mara added. "There is nothing more painful to me than making that walk down a hallway to tell a good person like Joe that we are making a change. We have done it far too often. We are going to get it right this time."
Judge is the third head coach in six season for Big Blue, the others being Ben McAddo and Pat Shurmur, both of whom were promptly fired after only two seasons a piece. The three coaches combined are 32-51 since 2016.
In many ways Mara expressed a certain amount of regret about hiring Judge, although he said twice that he still believed that Judge could be a good head coach.
"We haven't necessarily made the right choices. I think looking back on our process, I wish it had been a little more extensive, that we had seen more people, and maybe taken our time with it a little more," Mara said about the hiring process that led to selecting Judge in 2020. "We are going to try to not make that mistake this time."
Asked whether Judge's 11-minute rant following New York's 29-3 loss to the Chicago Bears where he threw the Washington Football Team and Pat Shurmur under the bus was a final straw, Mara said he "wasn't thrilled with it."
"I can't say there was one specific act that was the last straw, it was culmination of things," Mara continued. "We dug ourselves so deep I didn't see a clear path to get out of it unless we blew it and start over with a new General Manager and Head Coach. I still believe there is a good head coach inside Joe Judge; I just felt like given where we are with a new general manager, we need the flexibility to allow that person to bring in who he wants."
And that is where the Giants are right now. They are in the process of interviewing candidates for General Manager. Already New York has interviewed Cardinals Vice President of Pro Scouting, Adrian Wilson, and Buffalo Bills Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen. There have been rumored to be as many as nine potential candidates for the job.
"I feel good about the group of candidates we have right now. Any one of them can make a great general manager," said Mara.
Ultimately Mara indicated that it will be his job, and the job of ownership to earn back the trust of a fan base that has been disheartened by so many years of poor football. Mara echoed that it would not be an overnight turnaround, rather a lengthy process that begins with the naming of the general manager.
Still, names for Giants head coach are being tossed around in various circles from Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bienemy; Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator, and former Jets Head Coach, Todd Bowles; Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels, and recently fired Dolphins Coach Brian Flores. Even Saints Head Coach Sean Payton is a name many are discussing, although to get him, the Giants would have to give up draft compensation to New Orleans.
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