Steve Tisch, John Mara to address Giants' future after season ends
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch on the sideline during pregame warm ups at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 16. Credit: Daniel De Mato
Steve Tisch acknowledged that this has been a “very frustrating season” for the Giants, but the co-owner of the franchise isn’t saying what if anything he intends to do about it.
Speaking to Bruce Beck of WNBC at a New York March of Dimes luncheon in Manhattan where he was honored, Tisch said no decisions about the coach and general manager will be made until the 16-game schedule has been completed on Dec. 29.
"At the end of the season John Mara and I are going to get together and discuss the future,” Tisch said of his co-owner. “As partners we have to be very honest with each other about where we see this team going into the 2020 season.”
Tisch is the first member of the Giants’ front office to speak publicly on any team matters since the season began. Mara and general manager Dave Gettleman have maintained silence since the summer, leaving coach Pat Shurmur as the lone voice of the organization. Lately, though, as the Giants have lost eight straight to drop to 2-10, the questions for Shurmur have increasingly been above his pay grade and included topics regarding the blueprint for the rebuild, the makeup of the roster, and Shurmur’s own job security.
Asked directly about Shurmur and Gettleman, Tisch said: “Those decisions and conversation are not going to be made this morning. It's really at the end of the season that John and I are going to sit down and talk about these issues."
If the Giants do decide to make a change at head coach, one new potential candidate emerged on Tuesday. The Panthers fired Ron Rivera, their head coach of nine seasons. Rivera would seem to have a lot of qualities the Giants could be looking for, which include NFL experience and success. He also comes from a defensive background and worked with Gettleman as a general manager when they were together in Carolina. The two brought the Panthers to a Super Bowl together.
Tisch probably already has an opinion on what he thinks should happen, just as Mara likely does. But the two will allow the last four weeks of the season to play out before they act on those ideas.
In the meantime, Tisch asked Giants fans to be patient.
“I’m being patient, which you know at times is challenging,” he said. “Please be understanding and patient. I want Giants fans to feel that their voice is being heard.”
The voices of Mara and Tisch — the ones that count the most in these matters — will be heard too. Just not for another month or so.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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