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The New York Giants parted with a longtime high-ranking executive just one day after introducing John Harbaugh as head coach.
Senior Vice President of Football Operations Kevin Abrams is leaving the organization. Abrams had been with the organization since 1999, and in a front office executive position since 2002 when he was assistant general manager.
Abrams had been a constant at the top of the organization throughout its bevy of general manager and coach firings over the last decade. Abrams’ tenure in the front office spanned four general managers, including his own short stint as interim GM in 2017, and seven head coaches before Harbaugh.
Harbaugh’s arrival as head coach came with a different set of terms related to the organizational structure and his own power to shape it compared to previous Giants coaches.
Harbaugh is the first Giants coach who will report directly to ownership, bypassing a long-running team tradition of the coach reporting to the general manager.
Giants’ Senior Vice President of Player Personnel Chris Mara told reporters Tuesday that Harbaugh will be the “most important cog in the wheel” for the organization now and suggested Harbaugh was a unique candidate with the leverage to negotiate such power.
“He’s going to be the most important cog in the wheel. Let’s put it that way. But in terms of final say, this is going to be a collaborative effort between ownership, general manager and coach,” Mara said.
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“We’re just comfortable doing this with him. I think with anybody else, maybe it might not have happened that way. Everyone was in agreement, so we’re good.”
Harbaugh was endorsed for the Giants head coaching job by President Donald Trump several days before the hiring in a Truth Social post. Trump also said Harbaugh should “take the job,” in the endorsement. Harbaugh acknowledged Trump’s endorsement in his introductory press conference Tuesday.
“It feels really great!” Harbaugh said, when asked by Fox News Digital how it felt to have the president’s endorsement. “I also noticed in that post that he said, ‘John take the job!’ So I thought [owner] John Mara might’ve had something to do with that.”
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Trump praised Harbaugh and the Giants for the hire while speaking to Fox News Digital late on Monday night, and hinted at a personal connection with the Harbaugh family.
“I like the coach. I like his brother,” Trump said. “They came up to see me about three months ago. They came up to see me in the White House with their mother and father because the mother likes me, and the father likes me and I think they like me. And he’s a great coach and he’s gonna do well with the Giants, just like his brother does so well. They got something very special in their blood. And I’m happy for the Giants. They got a great coach.”
Fox News Digital’s Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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