Giants keep GM Joe Schoen, begin search for new coach

Giants general manager Joe Schoen was retained and is leading the charge to hire a new coach in New York.

Schoen met with team chairmen Steve Tisch and John Mara on Monday to chart the course for the franchise after finishing the 2025 season 4-13. He has one year remaining on his contract and the immediate priority is finding a head coach.

"The 2025 season has been deeply disappointing, and the results on the field have not lived up to the standard this organization and our fans expect," Tisch and Mara said in a joint statement.

"As previously stated, Joe Schoen will remain our General Manager and continue to lead our football operations and the search for our next head coach. Continuity and stability in the front office is important to our progress.

"We believe in our young core of talent, which we can build around for future success."

Mara endorsed Schoen after Brian Daboll was fired with a record of 20-40-1. The Giants won their final two games of the regular season under interim coach Mike Kafka, who took over on Nov. 10 and lost his first five games.

New York has produced three consecutive losing seasons with 26 total victories the past five seasons. Daboll is the only coach to last more than two seasons since Tom Coughlin was let go after the 2015 season.

Schoen, 46, attempted to defend his own value to the franchise in an awkward and testy press conference where he laid the decision to fire Daboll at the feet of ownership but maintained the Giants are determined to elevate the standard.

"I'm tasked with getting this organization going in the proper direction," Schoen said last month. "The standard is to compete for championships year in and year out. That's the plan moving forward."

According to multiple reports, Schoen has been focused on researching the candidates on his short list of interview targets for the head coaching job since meeting with ownership in November.

Schoen's second head coach hire will be the franchise's seventh since parting with Coughlin, including short-term interim coaches Steve Spagnuolo (five games, 2017) and Kafka (2-5 this season).

In defending Schoen's record, ownership in November pointed to the acquisition of linebacker Brian Burns -- who finished the 2025 season second in the NFL with 16.5 sacks -- and the rookie success of quarterback Jaxson Dart and 2024 first-round pick Malik Nabers, who was lost to a season-ending right knee injury (ACL) in September. Abdul Carter, the team's top pick in 2025, showed upside despite moments of immaturity.