Joe Schon understands the problem. It was a point the Giants general manager made seven times during his first press conference of the season, which must have made the 20-minute meeting particularly uncomfortable.
After all, the reporters in the room only had one basic question, and we tried to phrase it differently every time we asked it:
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Why are you still here? !
Well, let’s be a little more tactful than that. Still, I can’t remember a media session with team officials that felt less like a question-and-answer session Tuesday afternoon in East Rutherford and more like an FBI interrogation. All that was missing was an oversized light shining in his face.
In the face of that scrutiny, Schoen’s performance was a lot like the Giants’ performance against the Patriots on Monday night — it was difficult to watch and, by the end, a little sad.
He acknowledged that the team’s 5-25 record over the past 30 games “isn’t good enough,” even as he touted the team as having “a good young core worth building.” He admitted that his chances of “batting 1,000 times” have disappeared due to more mistakes. True to form, he made a series of empty promises that he “will get it right,” even if he couldn’t offer the same assurances that he’d still keep his job after this season (more on that later).
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To be fair, even if Schon ripped off the Big Blue quarter-zip and whipped himself, there’s almost no way he could have “won” this press conference. But I left East Rutherford with less confidence in his ability to fix this team than when I arrived — and, believe me, when I pulled into the parking lot, the confidence needle was well below an “E.”
In explaining why he’s bullish on the struggling franchise’s future, Schon touted everything from young quarterback Jaxson Dart to co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch and even “the greatest city in the world.” But he couldn’t even provide a shred of evidence that he was the right person to make those happy days a reality.
He doesn’t sound like a guy with a real plan, and that’s a problem.
“I’m not going to make the same mistake again and we’re going to continue to get better and we’re going to look at everything,” said the man who drafted Evan Neal and Deonte Banks in the first round. “The coaches, the coordinators, the strength (and conditioning), I mean, everything, every part of the organization. We’re going to do whatever it takes to keep things moving in the right direction.”
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Fittingly, trying to drill down on his mistakes is almost as futile as his team’s defense. Schoen couldn’t explain why a team that ranked 30th in the NFL in total defense last season is still in the same position this year despite using the third overall pick on pass rusher Abdul Carter and spending tens of millions on cornerback Paulson Adebo, safety Jevón Holland and others.
“We’ve got to do better,” Schon said when asked about his defense. “We’ve got to finish better and I’ve got to do better personnel-wise as well.”
It’s all true. But most general managers with his roster-building record are out of a job before they get their fifth free-agent opportunity and the draft. That’s why there’s some variation on this question – Why was head coach Brian Daboll fired three weeks ago and you were hired? – was asked in many different ways.
What the giant did didn’t make any sense. But are they committed? Schön did not reveal whether he was guaranteed to return next season, although he apparently has. That begs the question: What will happen if the Giants continue their seven-game losing streak against a series of bad teams this season.
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Then, the emergence of Schon may make it difficult for the team to hire the next head coach to lead the team out of trouble. You wonder: Do Mara and Tish see the impact of Mike Vrabel on the Patriots’ 11-2 run? If Schon’s presence is an obstacle to hiring the right person, are they really going to let him be an obstacle?
Marla had seen what Bill Parcells’ football team was like before he arrived, and she must have understood it better than anyone. He also had to see the grim parallels between those dark days of the 1970s and the now-hapless team that Schoen is tasked with restoring.
He is still the general manager. How this was possible remains a mystery, although even Schön himself understood the problem.
More from Steve Politi:
NJ gymnast Levi Dunn is leading a revolution in college sports
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The untold story of how Rutgers became a Big Ten university
How a former Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana
I’m a threat to Little League baseball – it’s time to come clean
Searching for Luther Wright, New Jersey’s greatest basketball talent ever
I attended Augusta National and had my own Masters meltdown
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