The organizational structure that George Young put in place in 1979 was inherited by Ernie Accorsi who handed it off to Jerry Reese. It ended in 2012 in the giddy glow of the organizations 4th Super Bowl win. While Steve Tisch was sipping champagne with his back turned John Mara took advantage of him and promoted his brother to senior vice president of player personnel and added his nephew to the player personnel department.
George Young had once blocked Chris Mara from becoming head of player personnel “We can’t have any fire-proof heads of player personnel,” Young said, according to Ernie Accorsi’s biography.
That ship sailed in 2012 and look at what the Giants have become since that time. After Gettleman and Judge were fired in 2021 Chris Mara was somewhat moved aside and made a senior personnel consultant, of course he still had a major role in hiring their successors. At the same time that was going on Tim McDonnell was promoted to the Giants director of player personnel. The fire proof head of player personnel that Young correctly feared. A position in the Giants current organizational structure that reports directly to the GM.
Pick an adjective, dysfunctional, ridiculous, asinine, comical or choose your own.
One of the owners of the team, who from media reports is being groomed to replace John Mara as the next CEO of the Giants is working in as a director in a football operations position that reports to a senior employee who theoretically runs the overall football operation. How can that possibly produce good results or honest opinions in meetings? Picture yourself as one of six people in senior position staff meeting. Five of you including your boss are employees. The sixth person in the meeting owns the business.
Pick an adjective, dysfunctional, ridiculous, asinine, comical or choose your own.
When Joe Schoen was hired there was an article in The Athletic about the role John and Chris Mara along with Tim McDonnell have had in player personnel decisions and the team the Giants have put on the field since 2012. These are quotes from that articles which will be 3 years old in January 2025.
“You can’t treat him the same as a scout or a coach,” said a former member of the Giants front office. “If the owner says something, you’re going to have to take that into account more so than someone else. I know this guy owns the team, so we have to sort of navigate around what he wants.”
“It doesn’t matter what you talk about in the meetings when they go home for dinner and they’re brothers and they’re family,” a former front-office member said. “It’s just a whole dynamic that you can’t fight.”
An executive of a rival NFL team with no family members in the personnel department understood how the Giants’ structure could create problems.
“You’re inviting more dysfunction when someone has a direct line to ownership, and you don’t. There’s maybe a little bit of distrust there,” the executive said. “If your voice is being heard simply because of who you are, but you’re not necessarily putting the work in, there’s all sorts of things that could derive from that.”
“(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones is out there, like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing this.’ He’s not hiding. He’s not in the shadows,” a former front-office employee said. “He’s like, ‘Me and (son) Stephen are doing this. We messed up? OK, here we are.’ It’s different where they’re up front about it and they’re accountable for their decisions.”
Such family ties can give off the impression that Chris Mara and McDonnell have the ear of the co-owner, that they have more influence than other non-family members in the front office.
“I don’t think it holds any more sway,’’ John Mara said. “That has not been my experience here. I listen to them. There are many voices in this building but the only two voices at the end of the day that matter are the head coach and the general manager. They make the final determination. [Chris Mara and McDonnell] do not have undue influence on the final decisions that are made here. They absolutely do not.’’ |
Pick an adjective, add delusional, blinkered, oblivious and clueless to dysfunctional, ridiculous, asinine, comical or choose your own.
This is what John Mara said in 2022 about Tim McDonnell when he was asked about nepotism in the player personnel department being an issue for a new GM in 2022.
| “Tim is probably the most respected guy we have in this building,’’ John Mara said. “Coaches, front office staff, the general manager go to him to ask his advice on players because he is a good evaluator. He’s worked his way up from the bottom and he’s earned his stripes. He does not have any authority here.’’ |
More from the Athletic article
| McDonnell earns universal praise for his work ethic. And a former member of the coaching staff supported Mara’s claim about the respect for McDonnell within the organization. “I think Tim is the best of the personnel people in there,” the former coach said. “He wants to change things and get it right.” |
It’s time give him the authority John Mara says he currently does not have. Promote Tim McDonnell to President of Football Operations. Have the GM report to him. Let him decide if Joe Schoen is the right GM or if it would be too awkward going from an organizational chart where he reported to Joe Schoen to the reverse of that structure. If Joe Schoen needs to be sacrificed for this change so, be it and if Tim McDonnell hires a new GM who wants a new HC and he agrees with his new GM so be it.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
And I agree with your proposals. If the Maras want to play Franchise Mode with their toys, take accountability for the outcomes. Put your name on it. He's so respected - great - own the results.
I think ultimately Mara and company hire weak leaders who don't have enough cache to handle the family and political dynamics with the franchise.
Hire someone from the outside to run the football operations. Let them decide on the GM/HC.
John/Chris and Tim can run the gift shop.
The problem I see is he keeps hiring people or keeping the wrong people in place who are more perimeter oriented.
I think the Giants will be the Giants again when they remember who they were and build towards that as a foundation. TC referred to this when he was hired discussing the Parcells/Young championship years.
If McDonnell is all about having a strong OL/front 7 as a foundation then sign me up. I don't like watching 24 carries for 26 yards teams.
because they don't have one right now.
It won't ever happen, but they should divorce the current leadership from football operations. Let them focus on the free medium Pepsi giveaways instead.
As a GM, how do you come in here and operate freely when you have members of the family who own the team reporting up to you, but telling you their opinions and how things have always been done. You can't tell them to take a hike because of who they are. If they have a strong opinion on something you have to take it to heart and be ready to explain why you didn't follow it.
I agree with the idea of the OP. If you find McDonnell that bright and the future of this team, put him in charge and hold him responsible for the results. Right now, he is all influence and institutional knowledge with zero accountability because he can't possibly be fired.
We all know the answer. They aren't!
Well wasn't even a good personnel guy (he often drafted player based on periodical/guide he subscribed to).
Or alternatively hire Belichick and/or Dimitroff type and give them total operational control including what to do with the Mara "employees".
As a GM, how do you come in here and operate freely when you have members of the family who own the team reporting up to you, but telling you their opinions and how things have always been done. You can't tell them to take a hike because of who they are. If they have a strong opinion on something you have to take it to heart and be ready to explain why you didn't follow it.
I agree with the idea of the OP. If you find McDonnell that bright and the future of this team, put him in charge and hold him responsible for the results. Right now, he is all influence and institutional knowledge with zero accountability because he can't possibly be fired.
Go Terps has said this, but I think a lot of the reason the hires continue to be wrong is they continue to hire OC's to try and fix the QB/offense. The one time they tried to hire a CEO type HC, he was an empty suit with no experience (Judge).
I'd also say that the majority of hires in the league are wrong. I'm sure if we looked at every hire in the last 7 years, we'd all be underwhelmed. 30% of the head coaches get turned over every year.
I think a big start would be hiring a proven HC who has won (Vrabel) and I'm not even a huge fan of him, but I think he'd be better than what we've done.
I still think there is a good HC in Daboll and if I had to guess Schoen & Daboll probably get to pick their next QB which could present a ton of problems if they end up getting fired after 2025.
We all know the answer. They aren't!
Well wasn't even a good personnel guy (he often drafted player based on periodical/guide he subscribed to).
This franchise has been an absolute laughing stock for over a decade. Mara has made terrible decision after terrible decision and is a bumbling idiot. If this was any other industry, they would be out of business. Has John ever taken accountability for the constant turnover, bad hires, losing record? Anything? This is on him 110%!
The real answer is for Tisch to hold John accountable and have him step down as CEO. Profits are up but the product is trash. This will take outside involvement or we'll be dealing with this another generation.
1. The Mara's will never sell in my lifetime. I was recently at a friend's wedding and the brother of the groom is a very successful investment professional. He is a senior executive of the company that helped the Mara's finance the current stadium. He explained to me how the new stadium allowed the Mara's enormous financial liquidity that they had never had before. It's their family legacy and business they have no reason to sell.
2. The Giants could hire Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry to run the team together but if Tim McDonnell is still the director of player personnel nothing will change.
If the Mara's want to run the football operation do it with some transparency and accountability.
I just saw a list of the records of NFL teams for the last 100 regular season games. The Giants are 35-65. The Jets have won 34. The Panthers and Jags have won 31.
1. The Mara's will never sell in my lifetime.
I completely accept that they will never sell. The question is whether they will ever be competitive in the NFL again, or whether it's worth being a terrible football team forever just in order to have Chris and Tim in their jobs.
THIS x 1,000,000