The Bears and Patriots both hired new coaches without hiring new General Managers in 2025 and both of the teams made the playoffs, so it’s no surprise that Joe Schoen chose to highlight their success in his Monday press conference.
Schoen will return for a fifth season as the Giants’ G.M. despite the team’s 13-38 record over the last three years and their decision to fire head coach Brian Daboll during the regular season. Schoen called himself fortunate to be the half of that duo that was “allowed to stub your toe and try to course correct” and part of the reason for that was likely the role Schoen had in acquiring quarterback Jaxson Dart at the top of last year’s draft.
Schoen said he’s heard from “a lot of potential head coaching candidates that are excited about the opportunity” to work with Dart, who will head into his second season trying to emulate what Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams were able to do in their second NFL seasons.
“That would be the goal. That would be ideal,” Schoen said, via a transcript from the team. “That’s a good question. When you look at those franchises that did that, I believe New England was picking four and Jacksonville may have been at five and what teams are in the top ten again. Those are two really good examples. Caleb Williams and Chicago, what they were able to do. Each of those franchises brought in new head coaches and were able to turn it around rather quickly. Drake Maye is in the MVP race right now. Caleb Williams, we obviously played against him. He’s had a really good year and playing at a high level. That’s certainly an opportunity that you look at those franchises and how they put it together in a quick turnaround. In an ideal world, yeah, that would be it.”
The Giants haven’t spent a lot of time in the ideal world since winning Super Bowl XLVI after the 2011 season, but Schoen’s role in keeping them in the wilderness won’t stop him from trying to lead them back out.
