Dave Gettleman believed he was a goner before receiving Giants reprieve
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman speaks to the media during a news conference on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman said in a pair of radio interviews that he thought he would be fired this week, conceded he was wrong in believing the team could win and rebuild at the same time in 2019, and accepted what could become a diminished role in organizational decisions based on the next head coach.
Appearing on WFAN and ESPN New York radio over the course of an hour on Thursday, Gettleman said he had a number of conversations with co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch in the closing weeks of the season but had no idea he would keep his job until earlier this week, when the partners met to make their decisions. Coach Pat Shurmur was fired, Gettleman remained.
“Of course,” Gettleman said when asked by WFAN if he thought he would be fired. “Listen, this is a bottom-line business and it’s about winning. We hadn’t won enough and I’d been a part of that . . . We all have high standards and we all expect to be the best and that’s what we shoot for. I obviously haven’t met that standard and I’m disappointed.”
A short time later, on ESPN, Gettleman said his plan to rebuild the roster while trying to win at the same time — the basis for many decisions he made in his first two offseasons with the Giants — was a “miscalculation.” Bringing in veterans such as Nate Solder, Alec Ogletree and Jonathan Stewart in 2018 and Antoine Bethea and Mike Remmers in 2019 were moves made with an eye toward winning right away, and perhaps the biggest decision aimed at immediate success was keeping Eli Manning the past two seasons.
“This is where I’m culpable,” Gettleman said. “I came into it and I thought that we could do both at the same time. And I was wrong . . . Listen, we obviously haven’t done enough. I made a miscalculation and I thought we could do both at the same time. It didn’t work out that way.”
As for his role moving forward, the Giants have been about as blunt as they can be regarding their willingness to listen to ideas from head- coaching candidates when it comes to restructuring their power dynamic. For decades, the Giants have had a general manager in charge of the roster and a head coach in charge of on-field decisions.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to help the New York Football Giants win the Super Bowl,” Gettleman said on WFAN. “I learned a long time ago, one of the biggest issues we have as men is we’re about control and credit. Let’s just be a team and let’s win the prize.”
Gettleman discussed a number of other issues. He said it was “the correct decision” for the Giants to make Daniel Jones the starting quarterback in Week 3. Of the offensive line, he said: “People want to say it’s a disaster. It’s not.” He added that he would not be hesitant to “draft over” any of the linemen and said he would leave the decision to possibly move Solder to right tackle up to the next coach.
He called Ron Rivera, whom he worked with in Carolina, “a leader of men” and “a formidable coach.” Rivera, fired late in the season by the Panthers, was hired as coach of the Redskins early this week. Said Gettleman, “Before we could turn around, the deal was done.”
Gettleman also circled the one area he would like to address in the coming offseason.
“Everybody east of the Pacific Ocean is going to tell you we need a pass rusher, and I don’t disagree,” he said. “Markus Golden had a real fine year [10 sacks], but we need more pass rush. That’s what it is.”
How much of that will be Gettleman’s call remains to be seen, but he will be part of the decision-making process.
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.
