FIX GIANTS BY FIRING GM, COACH:
After firing Reese & McAdoo, Giants should hand reins to McDaniels & Pioli
Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch are so plugged in they won’t need to hire an executive search firm or former general managers to tell them how to clean up the mess left by Jerry Reese and Ben McAdoo. This one should be easy. There will be a lot of names tossed around in the next two months as the right combination to get the Giants back in the direction of the Super Bowl assuming Mara and
Tisch do what’s best for the team after the season and fire Reese and McAdoo. Here are my nominations, who each won by a landslide: GM: Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli Coach: Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels What do they have in common? They both failed in their first shot as the boss — Pioli as Chiefs GM and McDaniels as head coach in Denver. That could be a good thing. What else do they have in common? Bill Belichick. Pioli helped build the Patriots first three Super Bowl teams running the front office for nine years for Belichick and was part of the group that decided to draft Tom Brady in the sixth round in 2000. McDaniels is in his second stint working for Belichick and with Brady and the greatest QB in NFL history swears by him. McDaniels was the first person Brady hugged after the Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl over Seattle three years ago. “We did it, Josh,” he screamed.
Notice he didn’t run over to Belichick and yell, “We did it, Bill.”
The Giants are 1-7 and headed to a draft pick in the top three. If they get Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen or even decide Davis Webb is the guy, then McDaniels will teach one of them how to be an NFL quarterback. He’s a state-of-the-art offensive coach in a quarterback league.
As much as he values working with Brady and may want to be in New England until he's done playing — that could be another few years — I think it would very hard for McDaniels to turn down the Giants.
The Hoodie’s resume includes a 37-45 record with one playoff season in five years as the Browns coach from 1991-95. He, too, failed in his first head coaching job and all he’s done with his second chance is get himself in the same sentence as Vince Lombardi as the greatest coaches in NFL history.
That is not to say Pioli will become a Hall of Fame executive if the Giants give him another chance or that McDaniels definitely can win a Super Bowl without Brady — we don’t even know if Belichick can win one without Brady — but we know they are smart guys and smart guys learn from their mistakes and tend not repeat
them. Mike Shanahan won two Super Bowls in Denver after he was fired after 20 games as the Raiders coach.
The biggest mistake Pioli made in KC as GM from 2009-2012 — he had one playoff appearance — was he tried to be Belichick. He wanted to control everything. That only works if you can back it up with consistent deep runs in the playoffs.
McDaniels was doomed in Denver because he, too, tried to be Belichick and was fired with an 11-17 record with four games left in his second season. He was just 33 years old when he was hired by the Broncos away from the Patriots in 2009 and just was not ready.
But he’s 41 now and has been a part of all five of New England’s Super Bowl championship teams. Pioli is 52. This can be a tandem that can stick around for a while.
McDaniels was a defensive assistant working with the defensive backs for the Patriots first two titles, was the QB coach for the third and the offensive coordinator for the fourth and fifth. He is a creative coach who knows how to adapt his schemes to the different set of skill players Belichick gives him every year.
The one constant for McDaniels, of course, is Brady.
He failed when he didn’t have him in Denver. Then again, Belichick failed when he didn’t have him in Cleveland.
Pioli has been with the Falcons since 2014 working for GM Thomas Dimitroff, who worked for Pioli in New England. Pioli helped put together the Atlanta roster last year that went to the Super Bowl and lost in the great collapse to Belichick and Patriots.
Belichick still has fond memories of his time with the Giants, despite losing to them twice in the Super Bowl. He disowned Eric Mangini when he went to coach the hated Jets in 2006. He would likely give McDaniels his blessing to take the Giants job, especially if he’s teamed with Pioli, who, by the way, grew up a Giants fans in Washingtonville, N.Y., about 60 miles north of the city.
“Bill is like an older brother to me,” Pioli told me in January.
Pioli and McDaniels are going to be in high demand. They worked together in New England for eight seasons and have remained good friends. They would have instant chemistry with the Giants.
In Kansas City, Pioli made a mistake when he hired Todd Haley as head coach but got it right when he
drafted Eric Berry and Justin Houston. McDaniels was given too much power in Denver, evidenced by his decision to draft Tim Tebow in the first round in 2010. They’ve each had a chance to reassess how they would do things differently the next time.
He Pioli met Parcells’ is Bill Parcells’ daughter son-in-law. Dallas in the hallway at Weeb Ewbank Hall in 1997. They began a conversation. Pioli thought he was flirting with a woman who was there on business for an electronics company. He had no idea who she was. Parcells Parcells “Oh, I said. see came you out met of my his daughter,” office.
Pioli took a deep breath. They were married two years later.
If the Giants hired Pioli, maybe Parcells could become a senior advisor. It would be good to have him be part of the franchise again.
The Giants need to go outside the organization. That's what Wellington and Tim Mara did in 1979 when they hired George Young from the Dolphins as general manager a few months after The Fumble game. The 51-17 loss to the Rams on Sunday might turn out to be the equivalent of The Fumble game as the impetus for major change.
Pioli and McDaniels are each ready for Act II. The Giants need to put them on the stage together.