Joe Schoen has generated so much national conversation about the Giants’ head coaching candidates that no one is talking anymore, as Black Monday arrives in East Rutherford, N.J., about the unthinkable reality that the GM with a 13-38 record (.254) in the past three seasons is likely to return for a fifth season.
That is what Giants ownership first needs to clarify.
The Giants need to make official whether they are staying committed to Schoen, and if they are, their fans deserve to hear the reasons why.
Not from Schoen himself. Not from the GM’s sycophants in the media. From someone running the organization.
No one has provided a sufficient rationale yet.
A valid reason is required, because pushing past the Schoen conversation immediately into the coaching search would be insulting to a paying fan base that knows bad football when it sees it.
And if Schoen is retained, the Giants promise to once again be in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft — even if they squandered an ideal pick on Sunday for a second consecutive year with their first win over the Dallas Cowboys since Joe Judge beat them in 2020.
The standard of this franchise needs to be elevated back to the glory of its four Super Bowl past. That cannot happen with Band-Aids and optics-driven arguments to conceal the truth about the operation beneath.
That is something that must be reiterated and understood about the Giants’ decision on Schoen: What makes him unqualified for the job is more than the constant losing. It is also the relentless leaks and the way he represents the team.
Under Schoen, the Giants always will be what they’ve been these past four years: an excuse-making public relations machine focused more on rationalizing their failures than on correcting their flaws with improved performance.
They will be an organization that enables someone who, it is well-documented, has not always treated people in the business the way people should be treated. Just ask Chicago Bears corner Nick McCloud.
Schoen told the former Giants defensive back’s agent in 2024: “Don’t pay October’s rent, all right? As soon as I can replace him, I’m going to replace him. I’m not f–king around.”
Schoen is not good at building a football team or good will, but he is good at talking about how his football team is better than it is — and getting others to do it, too.
Schoen’s ongoing effort to sell the Russell Wilson signing as a valuable investment is just one of many examples of desperation and goalpost shifting that the GM continues to steer heading into Black Monday with his short-term future likely — but not 100%, officially — secure.
Schoen undoubtedly can’t feel completely safe yet, even after being given recent assurances.
Saquon Barkley won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles after Schoen let him walk out the door. Julian Love and Leonard Williams were smoking cigars with the No. 1 seeded Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night in Santa Clara, Calif., after beating the 49ers.
And the Giants’ owners have changed their minds before. Go ask Ben McAdoo and Judge if a late season vote of confidence means someone is guaranteed to stick around in New York.
Whether or not Schoen is returning, the emergence of Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and Ravens coach John Harbaugh as likely (Stefanski) or possible (Harbaugh) firings adds significant intrigue to the Giants’ coaching search.
Stefanski and Jaxson Dart got along well in the pre-draft process last spring. Dart liked Stefanski’s offense. Stefanski liked the quarterback from Ole Miss.
The Giants knew that, which is one of the reasons they traded from No. 34 over the Browns’ No. 33 pick at the top of the second round to take Dart at No. 25 overall in the first.
Stefanski is a two-time coach of the year winner. And Harbaugh, a Super Bowl winner, has a resume that speaks for itself.
Schoen has flooded the zone with tons of names who could possibly succeed the fired Brian Daboll in 2026 but already saw Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, one of New York’s top candidates, pull himself out of the running.
In many ways, the coaching candidate conversation, driven by Schoen, already feels a lot like their pursuit of a new quarterback last spring.
They sought out Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers and a trade up to the No. 1 overall pick for Cam Ward, among other options, and landed with a thud on Wilson.
The Giants have to hope, if they retain Schoen, that their coaching search doesn’t fall similarly flat on its face.
The right decision here is to clean house and start fresh. It’s time to see if the Giants, in the 11th hour, will recognize or ignore that fact.
