The New York Giants are making progress in their search for a new general manager since Dave Gettleman’s retirement. While they still need to hire a head coach too, they may be getting closer to making a decision on their next GM.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports the Giants are down to three finalists, and they all come from teams who made the playoffs and have yet to be kicked out. In no particular order, the three expected candidates are:
- Joe Schoen, Buffalo Bills assistant general manager
- Ryan Poles, Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel
- Adam Peters, San Francisco 49ers assistant general manager
All three have interviewed for the gig twice, and while the Giants insist there is “no package deal” when it comes to a GM-head coach connection, they all link to a unique potential head coach candidate.
Here are some directions the New York Giants could go in, depending on the GM candidate they choose.
Joe Schoen, Buffalo Bills assistant GM
The first candidate to interview, Joe Schoen also became the first to meet with the Giants’ brass for an in-person meeting. He also has a tie to a very prestigious member of the New York Football Giants. In 2008, Schoen was hired by Bill Parcells to be a national scout for the Miami Dolphins.
While he has a connection to Parcells, Schoen has commonly worked alongside Brandon Beane, both with the Panthers and now for the past five seasons with the Bills. Incredibly, Schoen started as a ticket intern and has worked his way up the ranks.
From 2001-07, Schoen worked as a scouting assistant, before joining Parcells in Miami in ’08 as their national scout. Schoen eventually became their director of player personnel and also worked as an assistant director for college scouting with the Dolphins. In other words, Schoen has plenty of experience both when it comes to scouting and evaluating NFL talent.
If the New York Giants decide Joe Schoen is the right one for the job, two potential head coach candidates immediately come to mind. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is an obvious connection and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is another.
Both candidates have interviewed for several head coach openings around the league, but Daboll may be the one in the driver’s seat. Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News suggests the Giants are “very interested” in hiring Daboll.
Giants fans, if Schoen gets hired, don’t be surprised if the offensive-minded Daboll is your next head coach. If he can work any of the same magic with Daniel Jones as he has with the similarly-athletic Josh Allen, it could be a perfect fit.
Ryan Poles, Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel
Of the nine candidates to be interviewed by the New York Giants so far, at 36, Ryan Poles is the youngest of the group. He comes with an entirely different background than the other two reported finalists, bringing a unique aspect to the table.
Poles is a former offensive lineman who coincidentally blocked for Matt Ryan at Boston College. The year after his playing career wrapped up, Poles immediately got back involved with football, as a recruiting director at his alma mater. Just a year later, in 2009 Poles became a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs, where he’s remained since. While he’s been in the same organization all along, he’s been promoted four times.
- 2009-12 – Scouting assistant
- 2010-16 – College scouting coordinator
- 2016-18 – Director of college scouting
- 2018-20 – Assistant director of player personnel
Though he may not come with as much experience as some of the other candidates on the G-Men’s list, Poles doesn’t appear to be any less qualified for the job. He’s also a New York native. Hiring Poles would give the Giants a GM with a strong background in scouting and as a former offensive lineman himself, one would like to think their issues in the trenches would finally be solved once he’s on the case.
His obvious ties would link him to current Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, but there’s another intriguing name who could interest several fans of the Big Blue. Brian Flores is a fellow BC graduate (though not at the same time) and could very well gain momentum for the head coaching role as well. If so, the Deshaun Watson rumors would be too loud to ignore for the New York Giants.
Adam Peters, San Francisco 49ers assistant general manager
There wouldn’t be a search for a top decision-maker in New York if he didn’t have ties to the New England Patriots first. Helping Bill Belichick win two Super Bowls, Adam Peters worked in the organization from 2003-08, starting as a scouting assistant.
Today, he’s of the more experienced among this rumored group of finalists. Peters is currently in his 18th season within the NFL, including his fourth year as the VP of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers. Peters also spent eight seasons with the Broncos from 2009-16, where he served as their director of college scouting in addition to working various other roles as a scout.
Peters has been credited with discovering several of the in-house talents that helped the Broncos win Super Bowl 50. The same is true now working for the 49ers as they’ve discovered late-round gems such as George Kittle and Deebo Samuel.
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Like one of his contenders for the GM role, Peters also is a former football player in college at UCLA where he spent two years playing defensive end before joining their football operations department.
In 2021, Peters interviewed for the Panthers’ GM position, so this isn’t the first time he’s been considered for such a gig.
Like the other candidates on this list, hiring Peters links the Giants to three specific head coach candidates. The first is offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, another is their defensive coordinator Demeco Ryans. Both have interviewed elsewhere for head coach jobs around the NFL during this hiring cycle and have direct experience working with Peters.
Another interesting candidate to become head coach if Peters is hired somewhere is yet again Brian Flores. The two have ties going back to their days with the Patriots when Flores also worked as a scout. Whoever the New York Giants hire to be their GM, it appears as though they will have several familiar head coaching candidates already in mind.
