Brian Daboll showed in his first season as head coach that he could transform a struggling team into a playoff contender. After taking over a Giants squad that had just four wins in 2021, Daboll led them to a nine-win season and their first playoff victory in over a decade.
Since that surprise turnaround in 2022, however, the front office has seemed to expect Daboll to keep pulling off miracles — without giving him much help. Unsurprisingly, that hasn’t worked out. The team’s win total has dropped each year under his leadership, hitting rock bottom last season with just three victories, largely due to unstable quarterback play and a battered offensive line.
Fans have been quick to point fingers at Daboll, as the face of the franchise. But NFL insider Mike Fisher believes the real blame lies elsewhere — specifically, with ownership and the front office.
Fisher points to co-owner John Mara as a major obstacle. While Mara stayed behind the scenes during the Giants’ Super Bowl years under Tom Coughlin, he’s become more involved in football decisions in recent years — often to the team’s detriment.
One major example? Mara reportedly pushed hard for the Giants to give Daniel Jones a long-term deal. That decision has haunted the team, with Jones’ poor play dragging the offense down the past two seasons. According to Fisher, Daboll managed to win with Jones early on, but the quarterback was never his preferred option — he simply made the best of a bad hand.
Then there’s general manager Joe Schoen. Since arriving alongside Daboll in 2022, Schoen has made 31 draft picks and numerous trades and free-agent signings. But the results speak for themselves — and they haven’t been good. First-rounders like Evan Neal and Deonte Banks haven’t delivered, and trades like the one for Darren Waller have flopped. Letting star running back Saquon Barkley walk to a division rival — the Philadelphia Eagles — only added insult to injury.
Fisher argues that if Daboll is fired, he has every reason to be frustrated. He’s been undermined by poor decision-making from above — not just this season, but across his entire tenure. While Daboll hasn’t been perfect, and could’ve perhaps done more to develop Daniel Jones, he’s already proven that he can elevate a flawed roster. But even great coaching can’t cover for a consistently mediocre front office.
And sustained mediocrity, as Fisher says, starts at the top.
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