New York Giants’ front office may have cost them a chance to hire one of the NFL’s best coaches

By Andrew Buller-Russ

·Updated: December 17, 2024

The 2024 New York Giants are a complete mess. Not even their fanbase is on board with the team’s current direction, and it takes a lot for a passionate fanatic to turn sour on their own organization.

Unfortunately sporting the NFL’s worst offense, the Giants have been trending in this direction for some time now. They’ve had just a 39-89-1 record since the start of the 2017 season. Yet, the reason for their recent failures falls squarely on the shoulders of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, who boast the NFC’s worst record this season.

Hiring Joe Schoen may have cost the New York Giants Jim Harbaugh

New York Giants owner John Mara previously stated that he doesn’t anticipate making any front office changes this offseason. But that was before the Giants fell to 2-12, tied for the NFL’s worst record.

Yet, the Giants got here based on decisions they made long ago, such as hiring, then retaining Joe Schoen as the team’s general manager and leading decision-maker.

According to New York Giants insider Ian O’Connor, there were several GM candidates they liked during the hiring process before settling on Schoen. They reportedly “loved” Adam Peters, who now acts as the Commanders’ GM.

However, the Giants also felt John Harbaugh’s guy, Joe Hortiz, was “a bit nervous” in his interview, and they knew Hortiz wanted to hire Jim Harbaugh. As much as the Giants liked Peters and Hortiz, they “loved Joe Schoen just a bit more.”

The Giants loved Adam Peters as a GM candidate but loved Joe Schoen just a bit more. They thought John Harbaugh's guy in Baltimore, Joe Hortiz, was a bit nervous in his interview, but he was going to hire Jim Harbaugh as Giants head coach.

What could have been? https://t.co/iIzAhGAKYF
— Ian O'Connor (@Ian_OConnor) December 17, 2024

The rest is history. The Giants have stuck with Schoen for three seasons now, and Hortiz did get his chance to operate as the GM of an NFL team. But it didn’t come until the start of the 2024 season when the Los Angeles Chargers hired him. Hortiz did then hire Jim Harbaugh. Now, the Chargers have emerged as one of the best teams in the AFC, and the Giants are one of the worst.