Giants hiring Joe Schoen as new general manager

Joe Schoen called it “an honor’’ to be named the general manager of the Giants. Soon enough, he is likely to add a different description to the job he now owns.

Challenge.

Big, big challenge.

The Giants on Friday made official that Schoen, the 42-year-old former Bills assistant GM, is the new face and brains and pulse of their football operations. It is a monumental task Schoen has in front of him, saving a franchise that in the last five years has lost 73 percent of its games. He is inheriting a bad roster, paltry salary-cap space and an increasingly angry fan base, vestiges of the four-year Dave Gettleman era that grinded away the head-coaching stays of Pat Shurmur and, more recently, Joe Judge.

Schoen, whose full title is senior vice president and general manager, is now entrusted with turning around the fortunes of a franchise that sunk to the bottom of the NFL pecking order.

“Throughout our search, Joe impressed us with his ability to communicate a progressive and comprehensive vision for our team,’’ co-owner John Mara said. “His philosophy and collaborative approach to building a roster and coaching staff align with what we were looking for in a general manager.”

Schoen easily passed through the initial nine-man candidate pool and then rose above the other two finalists, Adam Peters of the 49ers and Ryan Poles of the Chiefs. The decision was made by Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch that Schoen is the right man at this time. If he can infuse the Giants with what he helped inject into the Bills, it will be a move to be praised for years to come.

“Joe is the kind of exceptional leader we sought to oversee our football operations,” Tisch said. “We will do whatever it takes to support Joe’s vision and strategic plan for success.’’

There is no time for a victory lap. Schoen must immediately turn his attention to his list of options to replace Judge, whom the Giants fired just two years into a five-year contract. The Bills face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday night in an AFC Divisional playoff game, but Schoen will immediately dive into the coaching search with the Giants.

“Now, the work begins,’’ Schoen said. “My immediate focus is to hire a head coach, with who I will work in lockstep with to create a collaborative environment for our football operations. We will cast a wide net, it can be former head coaches, first-time head coaches, but, more importantly, it has to be a person who possesses the ability to lead an organization and the ability to motivate and develop players.’’

The natural instinct is to link Schoen to Brian Daboll, the Bills’ offensive coordinator, and that instinct should not be ignored. Mara last week said there would be no “package deals’’ when it comes to a general manager bringing in his own head coach, but a Schoen-Daboll power pairing to lead the Giants is definitely a strong option.

 NFL rules stipulate only second interviews can take place the week before the Super Bowl with coaches still alive in the postseason.  This means the Giants must get moving with Daboll, and they did, interviewing him via teleconference Friday evening.  Schoen, Mara and Tisch conducted the interview.  The plan is to do the same on Saturday with Leslie Frazier, the Bills’ defensive coordinator.  This will take care of the first interviews for both Bills coordinators.

The Giants, before choosing Schoen as their new general manager, requested a head-coaching interview with Dan Quinn, the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator (and former Falcons head coach). Brian Flores, unexpectedly fired by the Dolphins after this past season, also will interest the Giants. In fact, Mara reached out and spoke recently with Flores, a source said, assuring him he is a serious candidate.

Schoen, during his nine years with the Dolphins, worked closely with Chris Grier, currently the GM in Miami. Flores reportedly had a strained relationship with Grier, one of the reasons for Flores’ eventual ouster. Schoen figures to hear all about that from Grier, his former colleague.

Schoen is replacing Gettleman, whom the Giants sent into retirement after he produced a record of 19-46 in his four years running the football operations. The Giants parted ways with Gettleman the day after their 2021 season ended with a 4-13 record.

Schoen will be the point-man for the coaching search, and his recommendation must be approved by Mara and Tisch. That is common practice with the Giants, but there is nothing common about the authority Schoen will be given. Mara wants Schoen to handle every aspect of the football operation, acknowledging there must be a new way of doing things and the comfort zone the Giants have existed in, to a certain extent, can no longer be tolerated.

Schoen (pronounced “Shane”) is the first Giants GM with no ties to the team since 1979, when George Young arrived to save a franchise on the tail end of what ended up as a 17-year playoff drought. Schoen was the first candidate the Giants met with via teleconference in the first round and he was going to be difficult to beat, as the Giants were high on him from the start of the process. Schoen also interviewed with the Bears, but he always had his sights on the Giants.

“We will begin to evaluate our roster and prepare for the draft and free agency,’’ Schoen said. “Our goal is to build a roster that will be competitive, have depth, and most importantly, win football games.”

As the Bills’ assistant GM, Schoen came to Buffalo in 2017, hired by general manager Brandon Beane, with whom he worked previously at Carolina. The duo helped the Bills end a stretch of 17 consecutive seasons without a playoff berth and built a powerhouse team, led by fast-improving quarterback Josh Allen.

With Buffalo, Schoen had a hand in personnel, analytics, communications and football operations. He was a finalist last year for GM openings with the Panthers and Falcons.

Schoen played quarterback and wide receiver at Indiana’s DePauw University. As a national scout with the Dolphins in 2008, Schoen made an impression on Bill Parcells, the Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion head coach with the Giants. Parcells, at the time, was the executive vice president of football operations in Miami.

Schoen got his start in the NFL in 2000, working as an intern in the Panthers’ ticket office. Now, 22 years later, Schoen has been entrusted with rebuilding the Giants.