When the New York Giants restructured their front office this past offseason, they broke away from their decades-old model where the general manager had complete control over the organization.
But the hiring of John Harbaugh as head coach forced them to change things up. Harbaugh wanted a hand in personnel decisions, and the Giants capitulated, cutting into general manager Joe Schoen's responsibilities.
They added Dawn Aponte to the mix to handle the salary cap and keep the oars rowing in the same direction. So far, things have gone swimmingly. The Giants lead the NFC East with a 4-2-1 record as they enter their bye week, despite long-term injuries to key players that would have sunk most teams.
Schoen is no longer encumbered by the financial end
of the job and is free to do what he does best -- find football talent. He has been doing that, and doing it well, for the past three years.
As a result, the Giants have turned a corner. They went 13-39 since making the playoffs in Schoen's first season, 2022. By all standards, Schoen should have been fired last year alongside head coach Brian Daboll, but ownership felt they had seen the worst of him and decided to double down.
The addition of Harbaugh and Aponte has been a positive thing for Schoen. He has had very few missteps this year. His draft was seen by some as a master class, and with Harbaugh's input, he has added free agents that match the team's overall vision.
The only question is how he and Harbaugh would coexist. Both men appear to be happy with the arrangement, as Schoen recently told Daniel Jeremiah on his Move the Sticks podcast.
"When you're dealing with people you enjoy being around -- which I love being around Coach Harbaugh -- it's just been a lot of fun to see how the offseason and the draft and the decision, you know, to cut down to the 53 and then to see how all that came to fruition in season," Schoen said. "And sitting here at 4-2-1 in the bye week and then first place in the NFC East. So, it's been a lot of hard work, but it's been a lot of fun as well.
"Obviously, it's working at a high level right now. I'd be curious, you know, it's almost like speed dating when you're going through the interview process, and you get to know someone before they're hired, but then they get in the chair, and you're working with them on a daily basis. It can be different in a multitude of ways."
Jeremiah asked Schoen what he has learned about Harbaugh since the season began.
"Just the stamina. The guy is all football all the time," Schoen said laughingly. "And it's great because he challenges everybody, challenges everything, and we're always thinking about what's the next thing, what can we do to get better? Like, it's the bye week, what should we be thinking about? What are we not thinking about? How can we get better?"
One way the team has gotten better is in closing games. They have been owning the fourth quarter, not blowing leads like they did last year. There were five games in which the th Giants lost leads late in the game. They could have won nine or 10 games had they played 60 minutes of football.
That's changed with Harbaugh at the helm. The Giants are ready for anything, and he and Schoen are making sure they have the resources to do it.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' Joe Schoen: John Harbaugh 'is all football all the time'
