There was no proclamation, because there was no wringing of hands deciding what to do with general manager Dave Gettleman, as far as the possibility of relieving of him of his duties after the Giants went 6-10 and missed the playoffs once again.
“I really didn’t contemplate that,’’ co-owner John Mara said.
This is why Mara, in his after-the-season State of the Giants address Wednesday, did not even mention Gettleman’s status until he was asked about it.
“Well, he is coming back, if you want a formal announcement about that,’’ Mara said.
It clearly was not something weighing on Mara’s mind. The reason for the return is not based wholly on the performance of the team, but rather on the way Gettleman and Joe Judge, the first-year head coach, worked as allies in their first year together.
Judge is the present and the future of the franchise — Mara is thrilled with him — and the dynamic between the coach and general manager was a boon to Gettleman’s job security.
“He and Dave worked very well together,’’ Mara said. “All of our personnel decisions I thought improved significantly this year. They were able to agree on basically every decision we made. I thought our draft was solid, our free-agency moves were solid and I think we have the foundation for something that can be very successful going forward.’’
Gettleman, who will turn 70 next month, went 9-23 in his first two years running the entire football operation. There is no change to the structure of how the organization goes about finding and procuring players.
“The general manager and the head coach collaborate on personnel decisions,’’ Mara said. “We haven’t agreed 100 percent of the time, but my father [franchise patriarch Wellington Mara] used to have a saying, ‘If you both agree all the time, then I don’t need both of you.’ I haven’t had to intercede on one occasion to break any ties.’’
Gettleman is a cancer survivor. There were unsubstantiated rumblings he might want to leave of his own volition, but he said: “I don’t know where the retirement stuff came from. At the end of the day, I feel great. So, let’s keep going.’’
After the 2019 season, ownership put Gettleman on notice, stating he needed to increase his batting average, as far as the talent he imported to the roster, and there needed to be tangible signs the franchise was moving in the right direction. Gettleman reiterated his performance in 2018 was not good — “not a stellar year, personnel-wise.”
“We learned from our mistakes,” he said. “Our processes are better. I think the past year showed the fruits of that, both in free agency and the draft. I really believe strongly we’ll continue it that way.
“It’s disappointing not just for me personally, but I’m disappointed for the organization. I’m disappointed for the players and the fans. Sure, it’s disappointing. Listen, last time I double-checked, it’s about winning. I’m very disappointed.
“We’re on the right track right now. We’ve done some really good stuff the last two years. We’re going to fix this. We are going to fix this.’’
Gettleman needed a big year and delivered, signing James Bradberry, Blake Martinez, Logan Ryan and Graham Gano as free agents, hitting it big with his gamble on Leonard Williams and providing Judge with immediate contributors out of the draft.
“I feel better about our roster than I have in years, and I think the two of them working together have started the building process with something that can have sustained success going forward,’’ Mara said. “I just didn’t think that making a change at this point in time was something that was going to be beneficial.’’
Mara lauded the job Judge did in his first year as a head coach at any level, especially his adaptability amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. The Giants started out 0-5 and were 1-7 at midseason, but rallied to go 5-3 in the second half of the season.
“Nothing seemed to faze him during the year,’’ Mara said.
The shabby record and missing out on the playoffs after finishing in second place in the historically bad NFC East were not acceptable, Mara said. The Giants are 15-33 the past three years.
“Obviously I’m not pleased with the number of games we won,’’ Mara said. “I’m disappointed we didn’t do better than 6-10, but I do see progress in the building. I think the quality of the people we have in the locker room improved a great deal. I think we have some great leaders down there.’’
Added Mara: “There’s a different feeling in the building now that there has been in a number of years.’’
Asked how long the fans have to wait for the Giants to produce a winning team, Mara said: “Well, hopefully not too much longer because I can’t wait too much longer, quite frankly. I’m tired of sitting up here at the end of the year trying to explain what went wrong and why I feel optimistic about the future. I want to do it after a winning season.’’