Giants GM Joe Schoen Cognizant of this Draft Pitfall
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New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen's primary job is to build the franchise into a contender. That means ensuring the coaching staff has everything it feels it needs to run the schemes and concepts designed to give the club a competitive advantage.
But there is a drawback to that objective that Schoen, like any other general manager, needs to navigate around. That comes when coaches eventually move on from the team while the players brought in specifically to meet their requests remain behind.
"Yeah, it's something that Coach (Bill) Parcells told me a long time ago," Schoen said during his annual draft preview press gathering. "He told me, 'Coaches come and go. You need to draft good football players.'"
Therein lies the challenge for Schoen. Last year, he saw both offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale receive interest from other teams for their head coaching vacancies.
While both eventually were passed over for the openings and returned to the Giants, there is no guarantee that other teams won't come knocking again on the Giants' door to speak to one or both coordinators for head coaching vacancies.
That's why Schoen, when he gathers the scouts, personnel people, and coaches into the team's draft war room next week, has to walk that fine line of doing what's best for the franchise both today and several years from now.
"Yeah, you don't want to get too pigeonholed into scheme-specific, because then, you're right, if Wink gets a head job a year from now and you bring somebody else in that runs a totally different defense, you a scheme-specific player," he said.
"Part of our job is to balance that. Like, 'Does this guy add value?' Like, 'Is he only going to fit this one scheme?'"
Schoen quickly credited the coaching staff for their input into the draft prospects that will appear on the Giants' board. Unlike a year ago, when the staff was brand new and still trying to find its footing, this past off-season, the staff got out to more pro days, all-star games, and the like to gain firsthand knowledge of the prospects.
"Yeah, the coaches have done a tremendous job. They are a big help and a big part of the process," Schoen said. "I think it's important to consensus-build throughout the building. When you draft a player, if the coaches don't want him, the chances of success a lot of times are slim.
"So we like to do our due diligence in all the prospects, and the more you can be around them, I think it puts you at ease when you turn in the card for those prospects that you've been around them a lot, and you know exactly what you're getting with your investment."
That input, combined with the input from his own staff and the scouts, who, like the coaching staff, were trying to build up a synergy, has Schoen feeling a lot more comfortable with where things stand ahead of next weekend's draft.
"Yeah, it's great," he said. "Going through ka personnel cycle, whether it was draft, free agency, or whatever, it may be, you kind of get to know strengths and weaknesses of your scouts. So yeah, again, after going through it for a year, I definitely feel more comfortable this year going into it than a year ago."
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