New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll survived another Black Monday, but owner John Mara made it clear that certain things can’t continue.
The Giants announced on Monday the decision to retain Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen despite a 3–14 season and back-to-back losing seasons overall.
A day after the regular season ended on Sunday, Daboll and Schoen kept their jobs on a day known as Black Monday due to the significant number of firings on that date by non-playoff NFL teams in a league not known for patience.
The head coach since 2022, Daboll led the Giants to the playoffs with a 9–7–1 record and a Wild Card playoff win before a Divisional Round loss. New York will have a chance to rebuild with the No. 3 pick in the draft and additional opportunities to change the roster.
This year’s Giants fell apart despite the addition of star rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers. That included the team parting ways with starting quarterback Daniel Jones during the season and a 10-game losing streak that sank a 2–3 start.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Mara explained regarding the decision to keep Daboll and Shoen. “It’s a belief in them, number one. But, number two, I think when you start over, you really set yourselves back.”
“When you have a belief in the two individuals that are leading the organization, you have to have the patience to stay with it. Again, if we’re standing here, if I’m standing here a year from now and we’re having the same conversation, I'll take the heat for it,” Mara said. “But we still believe that it’s the right decision going forward.”
Other decisions for the Giants will include naming a new starting quarterback with Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito, and Tim Boyle on the roster—none of whom have more than one season with 13 or more starts.
“That’s obviously the No. 1 issue for us going into this offseason is to find our quarterback of the future, whether that be via the draft or acquire a veteran,” Mara said. “It’s going to be up to them to decide.”
Changes on the coaching staff could be coming, too. Daboll called plays all season instead of offensive coordinator Mike Kafka for instance.
“I talked to him about, ‘Do you really believe that it’s in our best interest for you to continue calling the plays?’” Mara said regarding Daboll. “I said, ‘I’m not going to demand that you do one thing or the other. But are you better off letting somebody else call the plays?’”
“That’s a discussion that we’re going to continue to have,” Mara said. “But at the end of the day, he’s got to make the decision on whether he does that, on whether he wants to make replacements in the staff.”
