Giants co-owner John Mara referred to Monday’s tear-down of the team brain trust with four games left as a "complete overhaul," and he described the 2017 season as "spiraling out of control."
One of the questions in his press conference referred to "the Giants way." This, definitely, is not it, and has never been it, not for decades, since Mara's father was in charge.
Whether the next version of Giants management follows the old blueprint, or this new disruptive one born out of chaos, is up to Mara.
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The hints Mara dropped were that the Giants would go conventional: hire a GM — and he said he has candidates in mind — and leave hiring the next coach up to that GM. Of course, that makes sense. That is what has worked before.
On the other hand, before, the Giants didn't wipe everybody out during the season … when the record was 2-10 … when the longtime franchise quarterback had been clumsily benched … and when a genuine fan revolt was on the horizon.
This is a throwback to the bad ol’ days of Giants history, to a period younger fans have no connection to, and older fans would rather forget. This is 1970s-style dysfunction. It’s a crisis the franchise has not had to handle in some four decades.
The Giants reverted to something different, unfamiliar and unwelcome this time. That throws everything about their replacement plan up in the air.
Even the simple task of replacing Jerry Reese as general manager is not as simple as it sounds. The Giants have never fired a GM in midseason … in fact, they had never technically fired a GM ever. They've only had three since 1979: George Young for 19 years, Ernie Accorsi (who Mara said will consult on this hiring) for nine, then Reese for nearly 11.
And the last coach bagged before the end of the season was Bill Arnsparger in 1976, when the team started 0-7 on its way to 3-11. That was in the midst of the 17-year run of missing the playoffs, dating to their last NFL title game in 1963, encompassing a stretch in which they became an NFL punchline, a laughingstock, a team on which Jets fans could look down.
Young was brought in from the outside … again, in the bad ol’ days, when then-commissioner Pete Rozelle had to mediate a feud over that hiring between Wellington Mara and his nephew Tim.
Accorsi and Reese were promoted from within. Reese had been with the organization since 1994. How likely is it that path will be followed, after this implosion? Hard to say.
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The same goes for head coach. Relatively speaking, it’s been a stable operation since Young calmed things down back in the day. Ironically, the biggest blip was … no, not the Ray Handley debacle in 1991 after Parcells retired, but when Mara, who has been in charge only since 2005, nudging Tom Coughlin out two years ago. The entire “smooth transition” notion took a hit then; it just happens to be a more catastrophic hit now.
The Giants never put much stock in the one big coaching personality overseeing on- and off-field decisions. No Dolphins-era Parcells, or Washington-era Mike Shanahan or (to be current) Bill Belichick in charge. Not a coach who would hire his own GM, rather than acting as his own personnel guy.
Those early indications are that the Giants won’t do that now. But a lot of things weren't done before they were this past week.
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And even if that was the Giants’ preference, so much will depend on how desirable either job will be now. This mess of their own making surely has not gone unnoticed by the cream of the front-office and coaching crop.
Remember, it wasn't that long ago that the 49ers, once the gold standard in the league along with the Giants, reached for Jim Tomsula, then Chip Kelly, in back-to-back years, after they botched the end of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure. They might be back on track now … maybe.
These Giants are way off track now, after 40 years of being on track.
Trust them to get back on track at your own risk.
