To succeed in New York, one must walk a thin line and thread a needle at the same time. That is on top of any success they have on the job.
In the case of New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen, he has not had a good run in his four years on the job (the Giants have a 20-40-1 record over that span). He is also considered to be very fortunate to have survived the latest round of restructuring within the organization. Yet, he continues to live his life as if he has the world in the palm of his hand.
Sports radio icon Mike Francesa recently had some advice for Schoen on his YouTube podcast: Keep your head down and your mouth shut.
“If there’s ever a guy trying too hard, who’s going to be… hung on his own words, if he doesn’t watch it, it’s Schoen,” Francesa said, per NJ Advance Media. “I mean, listen, he’s still there. He survived. He amazingly survived.”
Survived is the operative word. John Harbaugh was hired as the head coach and will report directly to ownership and not to Schoen. The team also added another layer of management in long-time NFL exec Dawn Aponte to run the financial and day-to-day goings on within the organization.
So, what’s left for Schoen to really oversee? Not a whole lot, and he apparently isn’t seeing it. There’s been chatter around the league that the Giants may not keep him around for the long haul. He could be walking the halls as some sort of transitional piece until Harbaugh gets entrenched.
“You’re a flunky GM (who) was lucky to have a job. Okay, maybe you can salvage that career. Maybe you can,” continued Francesa. “But you know what? You can’t compare to what John Harbaugh has done. You can’t win that fight. And to talk about ‘I’m the leader of the football operation?’ No, you’re not.”
Francesa is sending out this warning to Schoen because it’s embarrassing to see a guy with his talent make cringe-worthy statements and act as if he hasn’t been demoted instead of taking his medicine and receding into the woodwork.
“This is John Harbaugh’s football operation,” said Francesa. “This is John Harbaugh’s team. It is his franchise. He now runs it except for ownership. He only answers to ownership.”
All true. The owners pulled out all the stops to get Harbaugh here. They see the potential Schoen still has as a front office executive and did not see the need to let him go. Schoen needs to see how close he came to being on the outs and accept his new role quietly.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Mike Francesa shreds Giants’ Joe Schoen over Combine press conference
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
