It is almost never done, but Joe Schoen did it.
The Giants’ general manager put on a headset and listened in on the communication between the coaches during the Week 11 game in Washington. He did it again the next week, a home game against the Patriots, and the next week, a post-bye “Monday Night Football’’ meeting with the Packers, and the next week in New Orleans.
There is usually a separation of church and state when it comes to what is considered the sacrosanct game-day operation choreographed by the head coach.
The general manager and his front-office assistants sit up in the press box and watch the game. The coaches are on the field coaching the game, with a few of them up in the coaches’ box, a vantage point conducive to relaying information down to the sideline. The coaches work the game, the front-office executives watch the game and afterward, the general manager discusses the game with the head coach, inquiring as to why certain decisions were made, why some players were not on the field for certain plays, why a punt in the third quarter, why not a two-point conversion try late in the game?
