Giants taking GM search outside of organization

There will soon be new blood — not colored blue — coursing through the veins of the Giants’ football operations. Given the sickly product this franchise has put on the field, this sort of transfusion is certainly welcomed and warranted. 

The firing Tuesday of head coach Joe Judge is the precursor to what happens next: Finding the person who has a huge say in who Judge’s successor will be. 

The Giants’ position of general manager, usually an all-in-the-family, in-house deal, is moving outside the neighborhood after the Giants sent Dave Gettleman off into retirement. 

This is a case of giving the people what they want. Giants fans are ravenous for a fresh face from outside the organization, a younger and more forward-thinking executive to get the team back into contention. The first nine candidates scheduled for interviews all fit that description. The oldest, Joe Hortiz, is 47. Quentin Harris is 44. Monti Ossenfort and Ryan Cowden are 43. Joe Schoen and Adrian Wilson are 42. Ran Carthon is 40. Adam Peters is 38. Ryan Poles, 36, is the youngest of the group. 

The interviews begin Wednesday with Schoen in the leadoff spot. There are no favorites going into this, but Schoen might be the strongest contender. As Brandon Beane’s first hire in Buffalo, Schoen was an integral part of a front office overhaul that led the Bills to the playoffs in his first year on the job, 2017, ending a stretch of 17 consecutive seasons without a postseason appearance. 

Harris and Hortiz surfaced as candidates on Tuesday. He was an NFL safety whoactually was with the Giants in the spring and summer of 2006 before he was released. Hortiz has been with the Ravens for 23 years, serving as Eric DeCosta’s right-hand man. 

The first nine candidates represent only six different organizations, as far as where they are employed. Cowden and Ossenfort are with the Titans. Carthon and Peters are with the 49ers. Wilson and Harris are with the Cardinals. Poles (Chiefs), Schoen (Bills) and Hortiz (Ravens) complete the list. What do five of these teams all have in common? They will be playing this weekend in the playoffs, a place the Giants have not visited in five years. Hiring away from winners is a smart way to go. If you can’t beat ’em, raid ’em.

There were concerns John Mara and Steve Tisch would not go this route after staying in the Giants’ circle for their last three general manager cycles. For the past 23 years it has been one of their own running the show, starting back in 1998 when Ernie Accorsi — the assistant to retiring George Young — was the handpicked replacement. Accorsi’s top draft guy, Jerry Reese, was next in line and then it was Gettleman, previously a pro personnel director for 15 years with the Giants. Hiring from the outside is not a pathway Mara is comfortable taking, but his franchise is broken and looking from within is no longer an option. This is why assistant general manager Kevin Abrams, although respected in the building, will not even be given the courtesy of an interview. 

The next general manager’s first order of business will be finding a new head coach. If it is Schoen — he seems to be next-in-line to land a job, based on his work in Buffalo — perhaps he strongly endorses Brian Daboll, the highly regarded Bills offensive coordinator. The Bears and Dolphins put in requests to interview Daboll for their head coaching vacancies and if the Bills advance, that buys the Giants time if they want to speak with him. 

There are a few highly regarded potential general manager candidates who have not shown up on the Giants’ interview list, notably Ed Dodds, the Colts’ assistant general manager and Willie McClay, the Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel. Scott Pioli, a longtime executive in the NFL currently working as a front office analyst for NFL Network, is not considered to be a candidate, but the firing of Judge could change things.