Beth Daboll and Marie Schoen open up on life as the respective wives of New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen; watch the Giants take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL playoffs live on Sky Sports NFL from 1.15am Sunday morning
Friday 20 January 2023 16:19, UK
Working beneath the surface of a rejuvenated New York Giants franchise are the hidden figures pulling the strings required to bring about a culture change at any NFL team.
As head coach Brian Daboll schemes and sculpts his way to on-field success and general manager Joe Schoen sources the personnel to ensure long-term sustainability, their respective wives Beth and Marie are mapping out their own version of Xs and Os with a view to creating the idealistic Big Blue product.
Between them they have willingly assumed an unwritten, unofficial but perhaps necessary task of translating the environment their husbands are striving to install between the lines into life behind the scenes.
The pair arrived in New York just weeks apart last offseason when Schoen and Daboll were plucked from the Buffalo Bills to spearhead a new Giants era, since which Beth Daboll and Marie Schoen have sought to complement a playoff charge with the harmony and unity that can be hard to come by for the support networks of those chasing the ultimate goal on television every Sunday afternoon.
"It's been our first rodeo as wives in these roles and I would assume it would be difficult to do this with somebody you don't know," Daboll told the Her Huddle podcast. "We are building things from the ground up, especially post-Covid, that haven't been in place in previous years - no fault to anybody other than there was no ability to do it because of health restrictions - but bringing back community service projects, volunteering, bible studies, things to the significant others in this facility to make us feel more like a family.
"Everyone is involved, everybody in the building is important, and for their significant others support is important. It comes from every aspect of the building, from kitchen staff to people who are keeping locker rooms clean and everything functioning at a high professional sports level.
"All of the families are important and as important as our husbands' jobs. The Tisch and Mara family encompass that, that's how they treat everybody. That's how the whole building feels welcomed and loved and we walk in. To have value in that leads to success. The culture in this team is that, love each other, play hard for the guy next to you, dig deep and give your best and when you know when the person next to you cares about you, you try harder for each other."
Beth Daboll notes how the team enjoys a family dinner every Tuesday as a means of bringing coaches, personnel and players together with their partners and children, and vice versa. Even if merely for 30 minutes before refocusing their minds to preparations for the Giants' next opponent, Beth highlights the importance of quality over quantity, where she says coach Daboll excels.
While their husbands shape a new era for the Giants in their first experience of life in top jobs, Beth and Marie are doing their bit to ensure the journey is smooth for those in the background.
"We had Isaiah (Hodgins) come in from Buffalo about six weeks ago, so we're trying to put his wife with other players' wives that could kind of embrace her and make her feel comfortable," said Schoen. "She came to bible study three days later.
"Really it's just trying to know the whole picture and make sure everybody feels comfortable, because the guys get here and immediately have to go in and start practising.
"Their wife or significant other is left 'right okay I'll get there when I get there'. You don't know anyone and at times they are younger so we try to, when people have come this season, embrace them and put them with people who live near them or are like-minded in that same group or have kids the same age so they immediately feel welcome.
"It can put a lot of stress on players or other significant others when the wife or significant other feels lonely all day.
"It's certainly not perfect, but we've done a lot this season, like Beth said with bible service, we offer a lot of different things in the hope somebody can come to one of the things."
Last April the pair were responsible for hosting a dinner for the wives and significant others of Giants coaching staff and personnel to celebrate the conclusion of the 2022 NFL Draft on the Saturday night. They opted to make the six-hour drive with Beth taking the wheel in the Schoen car as a self-admitted control freak while Marie made phone call after phone call; she contacted the equipment manager Jackie in order to use helmets as decorations on the tables at the restaurant as well as organising a bundle of balloons to add to the party feel, what was designed to be 'simple' evolving into a 'huge' coming together of Giants staff and family.
"It was really kind of planned on a whim and it kind of set the tone for the whole thing once we got here," said Marie.
Beth is mid-sentence when her phone begins to ring: it is Brian, marking what she describes as one of multiple occasions each day in which he will try to call her.
Before arriving in East Rutherford Daboll had spent the best part of two decades working his way up the ladder in pursuit of a head coaching opportunity, and since securing it has thrust himself into Coach of the Year contention as one of the most influential and dedicated leaders across the league. One branch to his success has seemingly been the ability to leave work at the doorstep, even if 90 per cent of his time mid-season is spent at the Giants facility or at a game.
"We talk a little football but not a lot," said Beth. "When they come home it's really family focused and that's why our marriage is successful and that's super important in this business, the guys can compartmentalise work.
"After a loss he might need a minute, but he really compartmentalises work, but when they're home they're 100 per cent committed to making all of that quality time count.
"Joe is rushing from the office to basketball games, Daboll as soon as he comes home he's playing catch with Logan and they're exhausted, they're up at the office at 5am, they're getting home sometimes at 11pm.
"On days they're home early, every minute he has at home he is making a quality time with our family, he FaceTimes me a thousand times a day, people laugh about it, but it's our time together. It pours love into our marriage, he makes that time. As much as he's successful at work, that's the type of person he is in all aspects of life."
Such is the life of a general manager and the onus on recruitment Joe Schoen can often find himself away from home as he sniffs out talent cross-country in preparation for Draft season. Nonetheless, he too has been able to strike a vital balance in his first year in the job.
"He's taken red-eye flights before and didn't sleep all night and is at the kids' games," explained Marie. "He makes them and me feel like we're the most important thing they have for that day. They could have had the worst day ever and they're coming home and unless I'm specifically asking about something it's not even mentioned.
"You would never know all that had gone on, but I think it has to be that way. Every day is going to be stressful in some manner for them at this level, so you have to be able to put that aside when you come home and get to the kids' games, and come in and listen to what their days were like.
"Also being compassionate with the fact that we're home, Beth has six kids and I have three so we're dealing with all these kids and all these different manners, anything house related that goes on, I just moved into a new house last summer and when you think new you think it's going to be all great, but it's like something every week I'm having to deal with."
Thursday through to Sunday becomes "super hostess" time for Beth and Marie as friends and family come to town to watch the Giants play, while the nature of a job change in the NFL presents the less touched upon factor of shifting children between school, upon which comes the ability to build friendships with the parents of the new schoolmates and navigating football's busy schedule in a way that preserves some sense of normality in a less-than normal position.
Their sense of belonging behind closed doors and the sense of belonging they have helped create for others has no doubt contributed to the production of a cohesive, high-spirited Giants outfit.
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