John Harbaugh is the captain now.
Acting ownership voice Chris Mara, GM Joe Schoen and the Giants’ new coach all acknowledged the truth of Harbaugh’s power in the Giants’ new dynamic while trying to downplay the significance of a non-negotiable issue that nearly derailed his hiring.
“I know that’s a big deal around here, ‘final say,’” Mara said. “He didn’t have final say. It’s collaborative. And he’s the first to admit that. If he had final say with everything in that building, he wouldn’t be able to do his job. So he’s gonna be the most important cog in the wheel, but in terms of final say, this is gonna be a collaborative effort between ownership, general manager and head coach.”
The head coach will be the most important cog in the wheel. Exactly. Something the Giants don’t typically allow — but they’re allowing now.
“Life has plenty of changes, and we’ve tried both ways,” Mara said. “We’re just comfortable doing this with him. I think with anybody else maybe it might not have happened that way, but everyone was in agreement. So we’re good.”
Schoen, who nervously stammered through his introduction of Harbaugh, said the coach having final say is “just something on a piece of paper” — in other words, it’s in writing.
“It doesn’t matter,” Schoen said. “We need to work together.”
The GM added “I have no problem with that,” as if he had a choice. He did not.
Mara acknowledged the biggest hurdle during Harbaugh’s 48-hour delay in finalizing his Giants contract “was about structure.”
“And it wasn’t really a big deal to be honest with you,” Mara added. “He was just crossing all his Ts…. It was a new job for him and a new coach for us, so we just had to make sure we aligned, and we did.”
They aligned because that was what Harbaugh needed if the Giants wanted him to take the job.
The 11th hour “power struggle,” as one source described it to the Daily News, ensured that a coach who spent 18 years working with legendary GM Ozzie Newsome and current Ravens GM Eric DeCosta would report only to co-owner John Mara — not Schoen — as his football boss.
Harbaugh downplayed it but, while doing so, also confirmed the new setup.
“To me, it’s really not that important in the big picture, in the big scheme of things,” he said. “I think it’s kind of overblown just a little bit in terms of how it works. But the main thing is that it works and that we work together. That’s what matters.
“That’s kind of what I was used to [in Baltimore], and it felt like a good way to kind of start off,” he continued. “I think Mr. Mara was happy about that. It seemed like it made sense. I’m just happy, but I don’t think it really matters… I promise you, we all report to the boss, right? And the boss is ownership. John Mara is running football operations here, … and I’m glad he is.”
