NO BACKUP PLAN FOR BIG BLUE
Rams.
In three seasons in St. Louis, he finished 1038 before he was fired and has not held a head coaching position until now.
“I got six pages — typed out list — that has all of the 'what would I do next time,' 'what did I think I did wrong,' and I've already reviewed that,” he said. “I'm not going to reveal them all, it's too long of a list. Sometimes you learn more from failure than as a success. I think everybody understands that.”
The Giants job in particular has always been attractive to Spagnuolo, and he was even a candidate to replace Tom Coughlin before McAdoo was hired.
Spagnuolo admitted that he has thought about the meaning of being Giants head coach in the past, but now that the opportunity is here it has yet to cross his mind and said his focus is solely on this week.
“Not going to lie, in the past I have thought about this, but because of how fast it all happened I haven't thought that way,” Spagnuolo said. “I prayed Monday morning it wouldn't happen, I'll be honest with you. But, that's okay. This is where we're at. I'm honored to do it but as soon as it happened, it was 'boom!' You shift gears.” That's life, funny as it may seem. evidence doesn’t support that.
The Giants did not do anything wrong in discussing a plan to see their other quarterbacks play in a lost year. Their colossal mistake was how they did it, forcing a shotgun proposed plan that disrespected Manning rather than making a natural transition to Smith and Webb late in games coming out of the Week 8 bye.
They handled it poorly and deserved to be criticized as they were across the country. It was the right idea and the wrong execution from the top-down.
But stop with all the Manning sob stories of how hurt he still is by last week, when Smith was wronged just as badly this week except he had his job yanked for no reason rather than a questionable one. mith, understandably, was disappointed to see McAdoo fired. The ex-Giants coach was one of the few people who believed in him. McAdoo actively helped bring Smith in as a free agent. So on Monday morning, Geno ran out of the locker room when he saw McAdoo on his way out and “shared my gratitude with him.”
“I respect the heck out of Coach McAdoo. I think he did something maybe not a lot of people would have: he gave me an opportunity. And I respect it. I appreciate it,” Smith said. “As far as like any sympathy or something like that, I’m not looking for it. I don’t need any sympathy. I’m built for all of this.”
What Smith probably will be looking for this offseason is a new job. Hopefully his next chance is a fair one.
SIt took a few tears from Eli, outrage from Big Blue Nation, then Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese having their key cards revoked — they should check with Tom Coughlin how to retain their gym membership at the Giants facility -— and things are back to normal.
As normal as things can be with a 2-10 team that has its bags packed for Odell Beckham’s next Miami boat trip after drinks with the Biebs.
The Giants are still a crappy team, Manning successfully pushed to get his job back as starting quarterback and once again they are back to having no plan to get rookie Davis Webb any playing time in a lost season.
Ben McAdoo’s poor execution of his QB plan last week infuriated Giants fans. He started Jets castoff Geno Smith when Manning refused to play just the first half, but at least McAdoo was intending to get Webb on the field in the final month of the season.
That would allow the Giants to determine if he has the potential to allow them to skip over Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen with what is now the second pick in the 2018 draft and take Penn State running back Saquon Barkley or deal down for an embarrassment of riches in picks.
So, while succumbing to Manning’s power play to get his job back after McAdoo was canned was necessary to prevent a revolt at MetLife Stadium for this week’s game against Dallas, it was disturbing to hear interim coach Steve Spagnuolo say in his first press conference Wednesday that the only QB plan currently on the table is for Manning to start.
“The number one focus right now is to figure out a way to beat the Dallas Cowboys. I can tell you that,” Spagnuolo said. “And, each week we’ll talk about those other things, but right now, in the midst of everything that’s going on with the changes and what not, little tweaks here and there, the focus is still going to be to beat the Dallas Cowboys.”
Spags said he went with his “gut” in picking Manning. Great instincts. There was no way he could start Smith and risk another fan revolt and Webb is not yet ready. Smith will be No. 2 this week with no indication when Webb will move up. Only one thing is certain: Smith is not the Giants future.
Manning didn’t waste time making sure his one-game as the backup was a one-game aberration. Not long after McAdoo was fired Monday, Manning was in Spags’ ear to tell him he wanted his job back. Spags is on a four-week audition to get the head coaching job — his No. 32 defense and two of his players being suspended this season for breaking team rules won’t look good on his resume — and he needs to win games.
“He walked in my office — I will tell you this — and as a coach, you want every player to walk in your office with intent, resolve and the determination that he has,” Spagnuolo said. “So, I respect that.” Manning is a smart guy and knows Spagnuolo, who interviewed to replace Coughlin two years ago but lost out to McAdoo, needed to get the fans on his side after the pro-Eli emotion poured out all over the city last week.
“I let him know that I do want to play,” Manning said. “I want to be the starting quarterback. I want to be out there and wanted to make sure he knew that. He said he was going to think about it and talk with the coaches but his gut said I would be the starting quarterback and I’m happy he went with that decision and that he has the faith in me that we can go with this football game.”
Spagnuolo was just 10-38 in three years as the Rams coach from 2009-11 — records of 2-14, 7-9 and 1-15 — and to keep the job he probably has to beat the Cowboys and Eagles at home, the Cardinals on the road and Washington at home, to get the attention of Mara and Steve Tisch and the new general manager, likely to be Dave Gettleman, who was the Giants pro personnel director when Spags was on Coughlin’s staff in 2007-08 and helped win a Super Bowl.
“One of the main focuses was asking the guys that when they come into the building, when they come to work, come to work expecting to win,” Spags said. “That’s how they should function. Forget about what has happened prior. Let’s just go forward coming in the building ready to work every day and expecting to win.”
Manning’s demotion last week prompted an incredible outpouring from fans, teammates and former teammates. Eli was very emotional in front of his locker last week and later reading heartfelt letters and texts. All this made him feel loved but it doesn’t do much for figuring out who the Giants quarterback will be going forward, perhaps as soon as 2018.
Smith was not happy when Spagnuolo told him he was going back to Manning. He played well enough in Oakland that he will have a chance to sign as a backup with another team next year. One of the first questions Mara asked Spagnuolo after naming him interim coach was who he was going to start. He did the most logical thing and said Manning.
The issue is the Giants know nothing about Webb. They owe it to Gettleman or whoever the new GM will be to let Webb accumulate game tape so he can be properly evaluated.
Even though Spags said he hasn’t yet discussed what to do with Smith or Webb with the offensive coaches for the last month of the season, Webb was not discouraged as the plan changed once again back to no plan.
“It’s not up to me,” he said. “I don’t get to pick and choose what happens, all I get to do is control what I can control.” he Giants have not had a top five draft pick since 2004 and they would like it to be another 14 years before it happens again. The only way they can pass on Darnold or Rosen is if they believe Webb is a thirdround gem like Russell Wilson.
Maybe Mara should come up with the quarterback rotation.
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