Joe Schoen Explains Why He Jumped on the Coaches' Headset Last Season
Tucked away in the New York Giants' off-season storylines has been the reported turmoil and turnover of the team's coaching staff.
But general manager Joe Schoen, who downplayed some of the concerns that emerged after the season ended in a side conference with reporters during the combine on Tuesday morning, spoke about his anticipation for the staff moving forward.
One point Schoen addressed was his involvement in jumping on the coaching headset during the team's second game against the Washington Commanders last season, allegedly to monitor how head coach Brian Daboll was interacting with the staff during a game when tensions can run high.
Schoen confirmed that he did listen to the play-calling sequence on the headset, but not for the reasons reported.
"It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time,” he said. “We were at Washington, and I can show you guys sometime, but where they put us is not a great spot to watch the game. So, I went and did it, and it was amazing.
"Just the communication of the coaches from an evaluation standpoint when I talk to John Mara after the game or my personnel staff, I can say, ‘Yeah, player X screwed that up’ or ‘Yeah, we called this, but this happened’ or ‘The safety was over, and he was supposed to be that way’ or whatever it may be. You just have an intimate knowledge of what went on and why during the game."
Schoen added that he continued to listen on the headset because he's superstitious. Since the Giants won that game, he didn't want to change anything, adding that he stopped listening in when the team's three-game winning streak ended against the New Orleans Saints.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also like sitting with my staff, but I’m not the only GM that’s ever done that, and, again, from an evaluation standpoint, it was beneficial, so that was the reason behind that.”
Shoen was asked about the timing of his decision to listen in, which began when the team was 2-8.
“We could’ve been 9-0, and I would’ve done it,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.”
Schoen was also asked about any friction between Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who reportedly had the play-calling taken away at times last year.
“There is no tension there,” Schoen said. “Mike’s a really good coach; he’s a great teammate. He’s an asset around the building, and he’s a young coach who’s been a coordinator for two years; we elevated him to a new title (assistant head coach) because we will continue to develop him as a head coach.
"There is a lot of like for him around the league; he’s in demand. He was a finalist for two jobs over the last couple of years, and he’s earned it; he’s a really good coach with a bright future and an asset to the organization. There’s no tension between Mike and (Daboll).”
That said, Schoen didn't rule out the possibility of Daboll taking on the play-calling duties this year, which he was against Daboll doing in his first season as a head coach.
“Right now, it’s February 27th, so they are going through all the self-scout,” he said. “The coaches as a staff, the offensive staff, the defensive staff have been locked in their staff rooms, going through every game, every play, versus divisional opponents, third downs. They are doing all this self-scout right now, so as we get toward the end of the March, that’s when they’ll kind of come out of there, ‘Okay, here’s what we need to do, here’s how we are going to adjust things.”
Would he still be against Daboll calling the plays?
“I’m never going to tell him what to do,” Schoen said. “That’s his world. I’ll be a sounding board and give advice, but I’ll never tell him what to do as a coach. So, if he decided he ever wanted to do that, that’s up to him. I’m never going to tell him one way or the other what to do on the field and whatnot. That’s his world.”
Just as it was in Year 1 of Daboll's tenure when he had an all-new staff that had to grow together and learn to communicate with one another, so too will be the case this year, what with all the turnover the Giants had on their coaching staff. To add to that challenge of establishing solid communication will be how well the staff comes together to overcome the adversity it faced last season.
Schoen sounded confident that would all fall into place.
“We are all going to learn and grow over time,” he said. “It’s the first time that we went through adversity. I’m sure there is a lot that we all learned about ourselves going through that, and as leaders, myself included, we’ve all got to get better in terms of how we handle those situations, and I think we are all going to reflect this offseason on how things went and what we can do better. I would put Dabs in that category as well.”
