Eli Manning helped woo John Harbaugh despite no formal role with Giants

Eli Manning played a role in bringing in the Giants’ new head coach, but as John Harbaugh’s reshaping of the organization takes place, the two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback said he will not have a formal title with the team.

“Hey, I’m always going to be helpful and be there for the Giants,” Manning said on the CNBC Sport videocast this week.

But given his responsibilities, which include his broadcasting gigs and his desire to coach his four kids in their youth sports leagues, he added, “I don’t know if there’s time to have a formal role.”

It would not be unusual to bring Manning on board. Lots of other retired quarterbacks have and continue to make big impacts on their former teams.

The Falcons just hired Matt Ryan as their new team president, Dan Marino and Doug Williams have prominent roles with the Dolphins and Commanders, John Elway won a Super Bowl while serving as president of the Broncos and, of course, Tom Brady has an ownership stake in the Raiders.

For now, Manning will remain as an adviser and confidant and work the phones as he is needed. That’s basically what he did during this coaching search.

“I’ve talked with ownership and John Mara, kind of during the season, when I knew they would be in search of a new coach, told them my thoughts on the type of coach that they needed,” Manning said.

“Someone that had been a head coach before and understands what it’s like to deal with the media and what it’s like to kind of be the same person year in, year out, day in, day out. Just really be a CEO of not just the team but the whole organization, the whole building, and hold everybody to a higher standard and accountability.”

That, of course, is what every team wants.

“I said, the problem is I don’t know if that person exists and if that coach is going to be available,” Manning said. “They don’t come up that often. And then you see the news about John Harbaugh, and it’s exactly the coach and the person that I believe we needed.

“They responded quickly, and I think they recognized that as well just because of the person that he is, first off, and the success he’s had as a head coach. I’m so, so excited for the organization and getting back on track.”

Manning did call Harbaugh to sell him on the Giants’ opening. He, Tom Coughlin, Phil Simms and even recently fired Giants coach Brian Daboll all helped them in that manner. It was a full-court press from the entire organization, past and present.

Ultimately, though, it was ownership that had to come to an agreement with Harbaugh.

“There’s no owners that are more committed to building a winning team and a winning franchise, and they want to win championships,” Manning said of his former employers. “The Mara and the Tisch families, they’ll do anything for the players, the coaches, if they believe it’s going to help us winning, build a winning team and a winning culture.

“They deserve to get back to winning games. They want this. The fans want it. And I think John Harbaugh is going to get us back to that situation.”

But Manning? He’ll be watching and rooting from outside the building. It’s similar to the way Frank Gifford helped the organization throughout his lifetime but with no official title within the flowchart.

“I’m always happy to lend support and help them in any way,” Manning said. “Kind of like the position that I have right now.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

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.