Eli Manning dishes on state of the Giants after 'unbelievable' John Harbaugh hire

Perhaps New York Giants fans took the Eli Manning-Tom Coughlin epoch for granted.

From Nov. 21, 2004, done Jan. 3, 2016, that was the lone quarterback–head manager tandem Big Blue had. Since then, including interims, they person had 17 — and 5 unsocial this season.

The Giants enactment contiguous looks unfamiliar compared with years past, but with the hiring of John Harbaugh, Eli Manning thinks the franchise could instrumentality to what it’s expected to be.

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New York Giants caput manager John Harbaugh speaks astatine the property league announcing his hiring astatine Quest Diagnostics Training Center. (Ed Mulholland/Imagn Images)

"It couldn't person worked retired immoderate better," Manning told Fox News Digital successful a caller interrogation regarding Harbaugh's hire. "I knew the Giants had to prosecute a caller coach, you're conscionable like, 'Hey, you request idiosyncratic with caput coaching acquisition and a feline who's been successful this situation, who's going to cognize however to woody with the New York media, who's going to benignant of instrumentality implicit arsenic the CEO of not conscionable the team, but the full enactment and the full gathering astir the Giants. The occupation is that idiosyncratic astir apt doesn't exist. He's not retired there.'

"And then, each of a sudden, there's John Harbaugh sitting there. It's conscionable unbelievable, a idiosyncratic that's had large occurrence successful the NFL. It conscionable could not beryllium a amended fit. I'm truthful excited for him, I've had immoderate agelong conversations with him astir this, and I deliberation he's gonna bash an unbelievable occupation and excited astir getting the Giants backmost connected track."

Owner John Mara has taken the brunt of the criticism, understandably, regarding the Giants' ongoing downward spiral, adjacent dating backmost to Manning's days. Manning was benched for Geno Smith successful 2017, ending his Iron Man streak. 

The pursuing April, the Giants, caller disconnected a 3-13 season, drafted Saquon Barkley implicit Josh Allen and Sam Darnold (Lamar Jackson was picked 32nd) to effort to get Manning 1 much ring. Then determination were the wide manager hires of Dave Gettleman and Joe Schoen and the coaching hires of Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and Brian Daboll. During that time, they besides faced disapproval for ignoring a home unit lawsuit involving erstwhile kicker John Brown, and different draught picks person faltered.

Despite the evident mistakes, cipher wants the Giants to triumph much than Mara, and Manning knows that — admittedly, to a fault.

Eli Manning of the New York Giants poses with John Mara during a property league announcing the quarterback's status connected Jan. 24, 2020 astatine Quest Diagnostic Training Center successful East Rutherford, New Jersey.  (Elsa/Getty Images)

ELI MANNING TAKES ON YET ANOTHER JOB AS HE TEASES POSSIBLE OLYMPIC APPEARANCE

"That's wherefore I wanted to travel to this franchise 20-plus years ago, due to the fact that you saw their committedness to doing immoderate imaginable to triumph a championship. That's each they attraction about, is putting a large squad retired there. That was my thought of them earlier I got to the Giants. And aft being this enactment for the past 20 years, I tin corroborate that that is each they attraction about," Manning said. 

"They bash everything for the players, for the coaches, for the radical successful the gathering that person been there, and there's a crushed radical person been moving determination for 30 and 40 years. It is family. And the Maras and the Tisches, that's each they attraction about, is putting a large merchandise retired there, getting the champion coaches, getting the champion players, doing everything imaginable to triumph games. That is their passion, is the New York Giants. And if they marque a mistake, it's due to the fact that they privation thing excessively severely and they're excessively committed to it, and they ain up to it. They're passionate astir the Giants and that cognition is contagious. You anticipation that each subordinate that comes done has their aforesaid passionateness and committedness to the team, and I cognize they privation to bash everything imaginable to get them backmost connected track."

Since their Super Bowl XLVI triumph to headdress the 2011 season, the Giants person made the playoffs lone twice, winning 1 game. It's evident there's a deficiency of civilization successful East Rutherford, and civilization usually comes with winning. But Manning believes Harbaugh tin bring that back.

New York Giants caput manager John Harbaugh speaks to the media aft being introduced during a quality league astatine the team’s NFL shot grooming facility. The lawsuit took spot successful East Rutherford, New Jersey, connected Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Adam Hunger/AP Photo)

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"I deliberation it conscionable comes down to a content and everyone has to person it. It's not conscionable a fewer of the main players. It's everyone successful the gathering that, 'Hey, what we're gathering here, what we're doing is correct.' It's everybody being held accountable. I deliberation that's what you request from that caput coach, is holding everybody accountable, everybody to a precocious modular and not letting thing other beryllium accepted. Just the value of doing the communal things uncommonly well. To being astatine practice, to having a large program of however we're going to get amended each and each week successful the offseason and handling each these things, bringing everybody successful and creating that, that close-knit radical that benignant of believes that nary substance what concern you're in, whether you're down, whether you're up, that you're going to person the quality to travel backmost and triumph shot games and flooded the pugnacious times. 

"It's ne'er easy. It's not expected to beryllium easy. You privation to marque it difficult, and it should beryllium hard astatine each times, but that's what prepares you for those pugnacious situations passim the people of a crippled and a season."

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