Key Takeaways From John Mara’s Press Conference

For the first time since August, John Mara spoke to the New York media after cleaning house. One of the big takeaways was when Mara admitted this was the lowest point in his time of owning the Giants. When Mara was pressed on why he opted to hold on to Dave Gettleman after last season, he said he thought that the arrow was pointing up at the end of 2020 and for whatever reason, everything went downhill during 2021.

John also made some headlines when he said we wishes that he took the prior coaching and GM searches slower and had not rushed into hires, which they did in the past. This came across as him specifically referring their quick hires of both Pat Schurmur and Joe Judge.

Mara explained how this season was an embarrassment and he had no choice but to start from scratch. “I kept thinking we hit rock bottom, and then each week we got a little worse.” While he explained that there was not one specific point during the season that was the last straw for Judge, he did say that his 11 minute rant in a press conference, where he threw Schurmur and a divisional opponent under the bus did not make him happy. He also stated that he was not a fan of him calling two consecutive quarterback sneaks deep in their own territory.

Mara made it clear today that they will focus on hiring the general manager first and then allow that person to hire the new head coach. He also said that the new GM will decide the future of both Daniel Jones and Saquan Barkley with the Giants.

John also got defensive when he was pressed on the role of his brother Chris Mara within the origination. He called out the media for creating what he called a “narrative”. He also made it clear that his brother is involved in scouting and grading rookie prospects, but does not have final say and is only tasked with things that he asks him to do. Although, it is worth mentioning that he did sit in on their first GM interviewing with Buffalo Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen. While John is in a tough spot in deciding whether to keep his brother on board, it could lead to an awkward scenario where they have a GM candidate that either turns them down or says they would only be interested if Chris Mara is let go and prefers to bring in their own football people.