It goes without saying that the New York Giants' fan base has grown increasingly unhappy as the team has missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. Well, Giants' fans, co-owner John Mara is right there with you in terms of being dissatisfied with what took place the last two years, especially the just-concluded 7-9 season.
"Obviously the fans are not very happy with us," Mara said. "We were bitterly disappointed with the results this year. Our fans deserve better."
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Mara was obviously unhappy while speaking to assembled media at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. He was, however, controlled in his remarks. Mara said the 2013 season was "as disappointing as any in my memory. Nobody's happy being 7-9, least of all me."
"I never expected 0-6. I'm the same person who stood up here in the preseason and said this was as talented a team as we've had in years and I thought we had a chance to make a run. Obviously I was mistaken."
So, what will the organization do to turn things around? They apparently won't remove head coach Tom Coughlin. There will, however, be changes in other areas. Coughlin's coaching staff is definitely one of the areas that will be discussed.
"I certainly have my opinion and Jerry (Reese) has his. I'm sure Tom has his," Mara said. "I'd like to think that at the end of the day we're all going to be on the same page."
It is clear that Mara, like many fans, is unhappy with the Giants offense.
"I think our offense is broken right now. We need to fix that," Mara said in a comment that could be taken as a clear indication that offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride could be in jeopardy. "We can't go into next season with the same personnel."
In terms of the offense, bear in mind that former Giants' wide receivers and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan, under whom Eli Manning had great success, is now free to pursue other jobs. Sullivan had been offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where head coach Greg Schiano was fired on Monday.
Asked directly about Sullivan Mara said only that "we obviously think very highly of him."
Mara also admitted that the Giants made mistakes in personnel decisions, both at the pro level and in their recent draft choices.
"Personnel-wise we obviously over-valued certain people," Mara said. "We have obviously not gotten the production we wanted out of certain draft slots.
"We need to do a better job overall."
Mara said that fixing the offensive line, which allowed Manning to be sacked a career-worst 39 times this season, is the top priority."
"That to me is the number one personnel priority going into the offseason. We need to improve the offensive line."
Mara said he still believe in Manning despite the fact that 2013 was his worst season.
"I still have every confidence in him," Mara said. "He's still the face of the franchise. We need to help him. We need to give him some better tools and do a better job around him next year."
Mara also echoed a complaint that will sound familiar to Giants' fans, bemoaning the reluctance to use some young players.
"I'm not sure why it took us three years to find out Jerrel Jernigan can play," Mara said. "Sometimes you have to put younger players in the game and give them a chance to succeed or fail."
Mara said that he, Reese and Coughlin will meet later this week to begin ironing out the changes that will be made.
"We're going to do what we have to do, but we're going to do it in an intelligent fashion," Mara said. "Stability is important, it's one of the reasons we've had some success here. But, there are times when changes have to be made. When we agree on those changes then we make 'em."