The New York Giants’ three seasons under general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have been a downward spiral. After a successful first season in which the team reached the playoffs for the first time in six years and won a playoff game for the first time in a decade, they have had two losing seasons that have completely fallen off the rails.
Therefore, Schoen and Daboll’s jobs are officially on the hot seat. This year’s team sits at 2-12 and is tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for the worst record in the NFL. After the long rebuild with the previous regime seemed over, the Giants are right back to square one.
The Giants could have had Jim Harbaugh a few seasons ago
These past few seasons could have gone differently if someone else had led the charge. According to sports columnist Ian O’Connor, they could have hired Jim Harbaugh as their head coach back in 2022 if they had chosen a different GM.
“The Giants loved Adam Peters as a GM candidate but loved Joe Schoen just a bit more,” O’Connor posted on X. “They thought John Harbaugh’s guy in Baltimore, Joe Hortiz, was a bit nervous in his interview, but he was going to hire Jim Harbaugh as Giants head coach. What could have been?”
Harbaugh had been the head coach at Michigan in the NCAA, and he opted to stay in 2023 and would go on to win a national championship with the Wolverines. The success from there landed him the job as the Los Angeles Chargers head coach, to which his team is currently 8-6 and in playoff position.
The Giants’ current regime has them in a bad spot
Hortiz was the one who hired Harbaugh, as he was given the Chargers’ GM job this past offseason. The Giants could have had those two leading the rebuild as opposed to Schoen and Daboll, and it is fair to speculate whether or not they would be in better shape if Harbaugh and Hortiz were in New York.
Of course, the Giants’ issues extend beyond the front office. They have had a rough quarterback situation that was exacerbated by the struggling Daniel Jones, who played his way into a massive deal two seasons ago before getting released this season.
With a huge offseason ahead for the Giants, it is still unclear if the current regime will be granted the keys to select the team’s next franchise player. From an optics standpoint, they may be better off making a change to show a sense of urgency in turning around the franchise.