New York Giants Conclude Initial Round of Interviews with General Manager Candidates

The Giants confirmed that team ownership met with nine general manager candidates. It's believed that the Giants will harrow down their list to about 3-4 candidates who will get second interviews.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jan 17, 2022 7:09 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

Buffalo Bills

Kansas City Chiefs

The New York Giants are believed to have concluded their interviews with the nine reported candidates for the team's general manager vacancy.

The next step for the ownership committee of John and Chris Mara and Steve Tisch will be to narrow down the list of nine candidates to at least three, if not four candidates.

There was no word on when the Giants planned to schedule interviews with their finalists or how many finalists they've identified, but it's expected that the Giants won't wait too long to begin in-person meetings with their desired candidates.

It's also unclear if the second round of interviews will take place in East Rutherford, the team's headquarters, or if the Giants brass will need to travel to the current home bases of those candidates chosen if said candidates are still in the postseason.

If travel is involved, the second round of interviews could extend for the remainder of this week.

The Giants promised to conduct a "comprehensive search" for their next general manager and, according to team co-owner John Mara, "...are looking for a person who demonstrates exceptional leadership and communication abilities, somebody who will oversee all aspects of our football operations, including player personnel, college scouting, and coaching.”

Here is the list of candidates the Giants confirmed they met with during the initial round of interviews, all of which were conducted virtually.

Director of Player Personnel Joe Hortiz, Ravens

The 46-year-old Hortiz just completed his 24th season with the Ravens and third as director of player personnel. He collaborates with George Kokinis, the team's other director of player personnel, to oversee all aspects of college and pro scouting for Baltimore and are the chief personnel evaluators for Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta.

Before his current post, Hortiz spent ten seasons (2009-18) as the Ravens' director of college scouting. He also managed the team’s draft preparation and the evaluation and ranking process of draft prospects. He was initially hired as a scout in 1998, working under former NFL tight end turned general manager Ozzie Newsome.

Vice President of Player Personnel Quentin Harris, Cardinals

Former Cardinals safety Quentin Harris is a former NFL safety who spent the 2002-2005 seasons with Arizona after being signed as an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse. Harris joined the Giants as a player during the 2006 off-season but did not make the 53-man roster. He finished his playing career with Denver the following year.

Harris began his post-playing career with the Cardinals as a scout, a role he held from 2008-2013. He was promoted to the Cardinals' Director of Pro Scouting, a role he held for five years, and then was moved into his current position in 2021.

In his current position, he works with Cardinals general manager Steve Keim with directing the college and pro personnel departments. Harris is also tasked with evaluating the top college prospects nationally and organizing the Cardinals' annual draft process.

In addition to his scouting and personnel management background, Harris has also assisted with player contract negotiations.

Assistant GM Adam Peters, 49ers

Peters is an 18-year NFL executive who spent four seasons as vice president of player personnel for the 49ers. He was promoted to his current post in February 2021.

Before joining the 49ers, Peters was with the Broncos for eight seasons, his roles including director of college scouting, assistant director of college scouting, national scout, and regional scout in 2009.

As a member of Denver's personnel department, Peters helped the team acquire 27 players through the draft and college free agency that contributed to the Super Bowl 50 championship roster.

Before joining Denver, Peters spent six years (2003-08) with the Patriots, two years as a scouting assistant, one year as a pro scout, and three seasons as an area scout.

Director of Player Personnel Ran Carthon, 49ers

Ran Carthon is the first reported candidate directly connected to the Giants franchise. His father, Maurice Carthon, was a fullback on the Giants 1986 Super Bowl championship team. The elder Carthon served as an NFL assistant coach for the Patriots, Jets, Lions, Cowboys, Browns, Cardinals, and Chiefs.

Ran Carthon was promoted last year as the 49ers' director of personnel after serving five seasons as the director of pro personnel with the team. In his current position, he manages the pro scouting department in evaluating players among the professional leagues, performs advance scouting of the 49ers upcoming opponents, and prepares scouting reports on club acquisitions through free agency, trades, and the daily waiver wire.

Before joining the 49ers, Carton spent five seasons (2012-16) as the director of pro personnel with the Rams and four seasons (2008-11) as a pro scout with the Atlanta Falcons.

Carthon had a short NFL career as a player, signing with the Colts in 2004 out of Florida. He was with the Colts until 2006.

Vice President of Pro Personnel Adrian Wilson, Cardinals

Wilson is a former NFL safety initially drafted out of North Carolina State by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2001 draft. After leaving the Cardinals in 2012, he spent the 2013 season with the Patriots, and then finished his playing career the following season with Chicago.

As a player, Wilson was a five-time team captain (2007, 2009-12) and is one of just six players in NFL history (Ronde Barber, Brian Dawkins, Rodney Harrison, Ray Lewis, William Thomas) with at least 25 sacks and 25 interceptions in their career.

Wilson joined the Cardinals as a regional scout in 2015 and has worked his way up the scouting ranks, being promoted to director of pro scouting in May 2019. He was promoted to his current position in February 2021.

In his current role, Wilson supervises the pro scouting staff. He oversees all pro player evaluations, the advance scouting process, free agency, and the daily monitoring of player transactional movement in all professional leagues.

Wilson also assists with college scouting, including evaluations for all juniors and crosschecking top draft prospects.

Joe Schoen, Assistant General Manager, Bills

Schoen has served as Bills general manager Brandon Beane's right-hand for five-plus seasons. Schoen has a strong background in player personnel which he acquired during a lengthy stint with Miami.

Prior to coming to Buffalo, he served as Director of Player Personnel, assistant director of college scouting, and as a national scout.

Schoen also led Miami’s preparation, assessment, and acquisition of potential professional and collegiate free agents and was tasked with building the Dolphins draft board later in his career with them.

Ryan Poles, Executive Director of Player Personnel, Chiefs

Poles, 36, has been with the Chiefs since 2009, when he first broke in as a Player Personnel Assistant under Scott Pioli. He worked his way up the ladder to become the Collège Scouting Administrator, College Scouting Coordinator, the Director of College Scouting, and the Assistant Director of Player Personnel. He was promoted to his current role in 2021 and has survived three front-office regime, including Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and Brett Veach.

In his current role, Poles oversees all aspects of the scouting of college football players across the country, assists in the pro process, and in preparing for Free Agency, in addition to assisting with coordinating the NFL Draft.

Poles, who signed with the Chicago Bears in 2008 out of Boston Collège as an undrafted free agent, was a college offensive tackle where he was teammates with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. Poles later went on to serve as a recruiting assistant for Boston College (2008-09) after not catching on in the NFL.

He is the 2007 recipient of the Paul Cavanaugh Award, given to the student-athlete with total commitment to football both on and off the field and for his dedication to volunteerism, ethics, and community. The Canandaigua, New York native was also named to the 21st class of Ingram's Magazine 40 Under 40 list in 2019.

Ryan Cowden, Vice President of Player Personnel, Titans

Cowden just completed his 22nd NFL season and his sixth with the Titans, who are this year's AFC top seed. Cowden has been the team's Vice President of Player Personnel since 2018 after initially joining the franchise as its Director of Player Personnel.

Cowden's current duties include scouting (college and pro), free agency preparation, and talent evaluation across all leagues. He is also a key figure in the preparation of the NFL Draft. Cowden spent 16 years with Carolina, where his last know title was Assistant Director of College Scouting, a position he held for two years. He also has experience as a scout, which he performed earlier in his career.

Monti Ossenfort, Director of Player Personnel, Titans

Ossenfort was hired by the Titans in May 2020 after spending 15 years with New England where he spent his last six seasons there as the Director of College Scouting.

Ossenfort has received interest around the league for general manager jobs before. He interviewed with the Browns, who ended up hiring Andrew Berry instead. He was also sought after by Houston, but the Patriots declined to give permission to the Texans to interview Ossenfort. And he had two interviews for Carolina's vacant general manager position that ultimately went to Scott Fitterer.