Joe Schoen understands the question. This is a point the Giants general manager made seven times during his first press conference of the season, and that must have made the 20-minute session especially uncomfortable.
After all, the journalists in the room only had one basic question that we tried to ask a little differently each time we asked it:
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How are you still here?!
Okay, we were a little more tactful than that. Still, I don’t remember a media availability with a team official that looked less like a question-and-answer session and more like an FBI interrogation than the one that took place in East Rutherford on Tuesday afternoon. The only thing missing was a large light shining on his face.
In the face of that scrutiny, Schoen’s performance was much like the Giants’ own performance Monday night against the Patriots: hard to watch and, in the end, a little sad.
He acknowledged that the team’s 5-25 record in its last 30 games is “not good enough,” even as he noted its “good young core to build on.” He admitted that the chances of him “hitting 1,000 have gone away” due to many errors. He made the usual collection of empty promises that he’ll “do fine,” even if he couldn’t offer the same assurances that he’ll still keep his job beyond the end of this season (more on that in a minute).
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To be fair, it would have been nearly impossible for Schoen to “win” this press conference even if he had ripped off his Giants blue zipper and whipped himself. But I left East Rutherford with less confidence that he could fix this franchise than when I arrived, and believe me, that confidence needle was well below “E” when I pulled into the parking lot.
Schoen touted everything from young quarterback Jaxson Dart, to co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, and even the “greatest city in the world,” in explaining why he’s optimistic about the future of this desolate franchise. But he couldn’t offer even a shred of proof that he’s the right person to make those happier days a reality.
He doesn’t seem like a man who really has a plan, and that’s a problem.
“I’m not going to make the same mistake twice, we’re going to continue to improve and we’re going to analyze everything,” said the man who drafted Evan Neal and Deonte Banks in the first round. “The coach, the coordinators, the strength (and conditioning), I mean, every single thing, every part of the organization. We’re going to do everything we can to get this going in the right direction.”
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Attempts to dig deeper into his mistakes were, appropriately, almost as futile as his team’s defense. Schoen couldn’t explain how a unit that ranked 30th in the NFL in total defense last season is in the same place this year despite using the No. 3 overall draft pick on pass rusher Abdul Carter while investing tens of millions on cornerback Paulson Adebo, safety Jevón Holland and others.
“We have to do a better job of executing,” Schoen said when asked about the defense. “We have to do a better job finishing games and I have to do a better job with the staff.”
All this is true. But most general managers with his track record of building rosters are unemployed before they get a fifth chance in free agency and the draft. Here’s why a variation of that question: Why is he employed while head coach Brian Daboll was fired three weeks ago? – was asked in many different ways.
What the Giants are doing doesn’t make any sense. But are they committed to it? Schoen would not say whether he has any guarantees he will return next season, though he is clearly operating as if that is the case. The question arises what could happen if the Giants’ seven-game losing streak continues against a series of bad teams to end this season.
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Schoen’s presence, then, could make it difficult for the team to hire the next head coach who will get the team out of this mess. One wonders: Did Mara and Tisch see the impact Mike Vrabel has had on the 11-2 Patriots? If Schoen’s presence became an obstacle to hiring the right man for that job, would they really allow him to stand in the way?
Mara, who saw what her family’s football team was like before Bill Parcells came along, should understand it better than anyone. You should also see the grim similarities between those dark days of the 1970s and the current hapless team Schoen is tasked with fixing.
He remains the general manager, for now. How this is possible remains a mystery, although even Schoen himself understands the question.
MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:
New Jersey gymnast Livvy Dunne leads a revolution in college sports
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The untold story of how Rutgers destroyed the Big Ten
How a former Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana
I was a Little League menace, and it’s time to confess it
The search for Luther Wright, once New Jersey’s top basketball talent
I played at Augusta National and had my own crisis at the Masters.
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