Big Blue View
Earlier this week, I wrote that the New York Giants desperately needed to land the plane and convince John Harbaugh to be their next head coach because the losing, and the creeping irrelevance of an NFL crown jewel franchise, had to stop.
Mission accomplished.
The Giants got their man, with word leaking out in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday that Harbaugh was cancelling other meetings and would become the team’s head coach.
The Giants were not relevant to the NFL landscape on Wednesday. Nobody talked or wrote about them unless they had to. There was no excitement. No buzz. No real interest.
On Thursday, all of that is different. John Harbaugh makes it that way.
Harbaugh might or might not win a Super Bowl with the Giants. No Super Bowl-winning coach has ever gone to a new team and done that. That’s, for me, not how this should be judged. Harbaugh has brought instant credibility back to a franchise that was badly in need of it.
Now, Harbaugh and the Giants have to capitalize on all of that by putting a quality, competitive team on the field that stays competitive and relevant.
Today, though, is the best day Giants fans have had since Feb. 5, 2012, the second time Eli Manning and the Giants walked off the field victorious over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl.
The Giants clearly understood where the franchise was entering the offseason. In a bad place. They clearly understood the assignment. No more fliers on first-timers. Get the best, most credible, most-decorated coach they could find to restore credibility to an iconic franchise that had lost its way, to establish a winning culture in the locker room and around the organization.
To return the Giants to what they are supposed to be. Forget those lower case letters. They are supposed to be the NEW YORK GIANTS. An NFL standard-bearer that is looked up to, not down at.
The Giants were described as relentless in their pursuit of Harbaugh.
Joe Schoen, the GM who has to know he is fortunate to still have that job, knew this is what his bosses wanted. He knew this was his chance to get the franchise pointed back in the right direction. He was said to be in constant contact with Harbaugh or his representatives from the time Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens until he entered the building Wednesday for his in-person sit down.
Throughout the process, Schoen, reviled by many in the fan base and thought by some to be a detriment in their search for a top-notch coach, **[convinced Harbaugh that they could...
