Why the Relationship Between Giants GM Joe Schoen, HC Brian Daboll Sets the Tone
The concept of "teamwork" is a very powerful one that, when executed as flawlessly as possible, can bring a lot of smiles and good things to an organization.
But when that concept exists in name only, well, the results will leave a team open to criticism and disappointment.
Fortunately for the New York Giants, they don't have to worry about a lack of teamwork at the highest level of the organization. Team co-owner John Mara, who has had to change up head coaches every two years once Tom Coughlin departed the organization, and who also fired one general manager (Jerry Reese) while watching another one (Dave Gettleman) retire after four straight losing seasons, hopes the current duo of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll sticks around for a long time to restore the stability and winning ways the organization craves.
So far, so good. It's hard not to notice how in sync Schoen and Daboll are regarding decisions affecting the team. In fact, one of the most striking differences in how Schoen and Daboll conduct business as opposed to how the team's previous general manager-head coach duos operated is that in most cases, when the bigger picture is involved, the two men take to the podium to address the media together, presenting one voice and one vision.
That oh-so-important unity reportedly wasn't always there under the prior regime of Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge, according to former defensive back Nate Ebner, who followed Judge from New England for his two seasons as Giants head coach.
Ebner alleged on an episode of the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long that Judge and Gettleman often didn't see eye to eye regarding roster building.
When a team's top two decision-makers consistently don't see eye-to-eye on things, when one man's ego is at the point where he thinks he knows better no matter what the other says, that usually spells trouble.
Such, though, doesn't appear to be the case between Schoen and Daboll. The two men, both of whom were with the Buffalo Bills before coming to the Giants, also seem to legitimately enjoy being around each other and communicate well with each other.
In Part 3 of the team's "Giants Life" video series, an episode entitled "The Process," the fondness both men have for each other as colleagues is on full display, regardless if they were celebrating landing the draft pick they wanted or if they were sweating out whether the draft board would fall their way.
That cohesiveness is a big reason why the Giants surprised many people last season with a 9-7-1 record and their first postseason berth since 2016. Schoen, who was hamstrung by a horrible salary cap situation in his first season as general manager, collaborated with Daboll and the coaches to find out what they wanted to make their respective systems work and then figured out a way to find them what they needed as best as possible given the limited resources he had.
Daboll and his staff, for their part, took the talent Schoen was able to provide and coached the heck out of them. And for proof of that, look no further than what the receivers--a group that lacked a household name or a name for that matter which kept opposing defensive coordinators up at night--were able to accomplish.
That practice of making sure the coaches had what they needed continued this year, with Schoen casually mentioning at the combine how there were some specific things that defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was looking for in players and how the personnel department was trying to accommodate.
Besides the fact that Schoen and Daboll have a harmonious relationship, the big takeaway--and this is rare indeed--is that you have two alpha males willing to check their respective egos at the door for the sake of the big picture, which in turn sets the tone for the very foundation that the two men envision for the franchise moving forward.
This isn't to say that Schoen and Daboll agree on everything--and in those instances when there is a disagreement, Schoen's opinion probably carries a little more clout. But the productive, cohesive working relationship these two men have formed has, for the first time in a long time, left the Giants faithful with the hope that no matter what kind of adversity gets thrown their way, the Giants will prevail.
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