Chris Mara, the Giants’ senior VP of player personnel and brother of team CEO John Mara, takes a timeout for an exclusive Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: How proud are you for recruiting and helping land John Harbaugh? 

A: At the time, I really didn’t think it was that big a deal. I was going based on what both ownership’s wishes were. It certainly was my idea to do it, and everybody gave me their blessing. There was some outside noise about getting my ass down there [Harbaugh’s house in Baltimore area]. 

Q: Outside noise? 

A: That was [Tom] Coughlin when I had my conversation with him, but I was the one that told him I was going, and he was very happy about that (laugh). 

Q: Why did you think it was important to go? 

A: Because I knew there were three or four other teams out there. We had to make contact with him first. John [Mara] wanted to come with me, but he was going through his [cancer] treatment and stuff back then. 

Q: What do you remember thinking on the car ride down? 

A: I was thinking I never met this friggin’ guy before, he might think I’m the biggest a–hole in the world! (laugh). I’m sure he had made phone calls and all this, and I’m thinking, “Man, what does my Google page say? Because he’s probably Googling me right now. This guy’s a horse racing guy, who is he?” 

Q: Your trip back? 

A: I called my brother John first. I told him how I thought it went really good, and I relayed the message that he said to me, “The Giants are my first choice.” And I said the same thing to Steve Tisch. 

Q: What was John’s reaction? 

A: He was ecstatic. … The first thing he said: “You’re s–tting me.” I go, “No I’m not.” I told him, “John, I’m 90 percent sure he’s going to be our next coach.” He was ecstatic, and he says, “What do we do next?” I just old him, “Hang on. Just hang on.” … We came back, met about it. Of course I went back a second time and we met. … I think it was two [days later]. 

Q: Why did you feel a need to go back? 

A: We needed to iron a few things out in terms of power structure-type stuff, how the organization was going to be run. He just asked me a million questions. I did not meet him at his house. I met him at somebody else’s house. It was actually in southern New Jersey. 

Q: What was resolved at that meeting? 

A: It was just more clarity on coaches, roster — I went over the whole roster with him. He asked my opinion on basically every player, and I gave it to him. And he wanted to know about coaches and who I thought he should keep, stuff like that, all roster building and coaches. 

Q: What were you feeling on that drive back north? 

A: I was feeling just as good, but I knew it would be a little harder sell to John and to ownership, because this was a guy who was going to take complete command and control of football, and we had never had that structure before. At first, it was a little bit of a shock to everybody, and a little bit of reluctance. But we got around it. 

Q: You lobbied for … 

A: Absolutely. And that went with also trying to protect as much as I could [GM] Joe Schoen, because I like Joe Schoen. Everybody in the building did, and the guy works his ass off. 

Q: And the partnership now between Harbaugh and Schoen? 

A: It’s terrific. They work great together. They both respect each other. 

Q: What enables Harbaugh to command a room? 

A: For one thing, he’s got the skins on the wall, or if you want to go the Bill Parcells route, he’s got the pelts. And he just has an incredible way to communicate with players, and still keep them accountable. He doesn’t have the Tom Coughlin-Bill Parcells auditory yell and scream at the player to make him listen or whatever, he doesn’t have to do that. He’s got this calmness about him that I think the players really respect. We’re looking at a different type of players these years than we were back then. If you go to a Giant team meeting in the morning, you see it. It’s remarkable how probably 70 players with practice squad, all eyes right on him listening to every word he’s got. 

Q: How would you describe his competitive aura? 

A: He has this ability to keep everybody accountable, from the equipment manager to the special teams coach to the offensive coordinator to the 53rd guy on the roster. 

Q: What is the mindset in the building like now? 

A: The mindset is … don’t blink. 

Q: How’s John doing in his cancer battle? 

A: He’s doing fine. He comes in a couple of times a week, and he’s fighting the fight. He certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor, and believe me, he’s all-in on this season. It’s really kept him strong. 

Q: All-in how? 

A: He sees the arrow going up — in terms of the organization, coaches, players — and it just makes him happy, you know? We all live for that. 

Q: Your leadership style compared to John’s? 

A: I think he’s a lot more gentlemanly-like than me. He’s very hotheaded during games and stuff. We’re both really into it during the game. I think I have a lot less patience than he does, but I’m pretty practical about it. … It’s more about winning. 

Q: You had a chance to draft J.J. McCarthy three years ago. 

A: We had him rated very high from a skill set. … We weren’t quite sure about the maturity level, but we loved his skill set. He showed the ability to win, the ability to lead. Seeing him three years later, this is a completely different-looking person for me. 

Q: On the field and off? 

A: On the field and off the field. He’s a terrific guy, he’s matured, he’s married now, has a kid. I’m in awe when I watch him in practice. He’s got a much better arm than I thought he ever had. He moves around great. Listen, the arrow’s up on him, too. 

Q: Malik Nabers was your pick that year. 

A: The thing that we loved about Malik was his size and physicality for that position. I mean, he’s built like a running back. And of course he had great hands, great production. And he’s proven all that. 

Q: Jaxson Dart draft night. 

A: I give [then coach Brian] Daboll the credit on him without a doubt. He loved him. I really liked him, we went to work all the quarterbacks out that year. I had some questions on Jaxson a little bit. It was mostly his style of play that kind of worried me a little bit. He liked to run, liked to take hits. He’s really a tough guy. What really got me excited about him was how smart he was. … We took him out to dinner that night, I busted his chops because he ate a whole pizza that night, and I said to him, “Jaxson, you ever hear about the Hefty Lefty [300-pound quarterback Jared Lorenzen]?” He looked at me, he knew exactly who it was. And he looked at me with kind of a weird look, I go, “He would have ate that same pie you ate.” We got a big laugh out of it. He’s a big-bodied guy. He could get big, he’s never been big here, he’s in great shape. 

Q: What was it like in Week 2 when you watched him go down with a knee injury? 

A: The Fumble [in a 1978 loss to the Eagles] — this was the same type of devastation in my opinion that hit me right away. 

Q: On a happier note, Arvell Reese. 

A: I was a little off on him only because I really thought he was going to be an edge guy. He’s proven me wrong, he’s a middle guy to me, and he’s terrific at it. When he was out at minicamp I was standing there, L.T. [Lawrence Taylor] and Ottis [Anderson] had come that day to watch practice, and I’m standing there with L.T. and (chuckle) he looks at Reese and he goes, “Who’s that guy wearing Pepper Johnson’s number over there?” I was busting his chops, I said, “He’s not as good as you but he’s almost as good as you.” He looked at me, he goes, “Bulls–t.” (laugh). He paid attention to him after that, let’s put it that way. 

Q: Abdul Carter? 

A: Stud. 

Q: Isaiah Likely? 

A: A lot better than I thought. 

Q: Deonte Banks? 

A: Arrow’s up. 

Q: Jameis Winston? 

A: Great leader. 

Q: What is the biggest football lesson you learned from your father, Wellington Mara? 

A: Probably trust your instincts. 

Q: One anecdote about him as a father growing up. 

A: Well, he only whipped my ass once. 

Q: What did you do? 

A: There was a group of us, we just got in a little bit of trouble. And from that point on I was a pretty good boy. . .well not a really good boy but. . . (laugh). 

Q: Best advice he gave you as a father? 

A: Well, my dad was very religious. I’m not quite as religious as he is, but he did everything pretty much by the book. The one time that he caught me in a lie was when I came home from playing golf one Sunday morning, and my mother comes into the room and she says, “What Mass did you go to this morning?” And I said, “8 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows.” And she looks at me and she goes, “Wrong answer. That was the Mass your dad was at.” That didn’t go over too well. 

Q: Describe your mom. 

A: She was a tough cookie, a lot tougher than my dad was in terms of discipline, I think. She’d look you in the eye and that’s all she had to do, she didn’t have to say a word. She made sure I got a haircut basically every three months. 

Q: What do you remember about your dad’s emotions watching Super Bowl XXI in January 1987 in Pasadena, Calif.? 

A: Sitting up in the rooftop there watching the game with my dad. I think there was an alternate press box up there where we sat. It’s me, John and my dad. … [Dad] was on the edge of his seat the whole game, basically. 

Q: How about when it ended? 

A: Very happy. There’s pictures of him in the locker room after that game. More so in ’86 [than 1990] because ’86 kind of got the monkey off his back a little bit in terms of the team is relevant again. I think that was for me anyway, was the most memorable Super Bowl. 

Q: The 17-0 NFC Championship win against Washington that sent the 1986 Giants to Super Bowl XXI. 

A: Most of my joy coming from those games was to look at him. 

Q: Describe Scott Norwood’s potential game-winning kick for Buffalo going wide right. 

A: I named a horse Wide Right. That kind of explains it. And he wasn’t worth a crap (laugh). I actually at that point was on the sideline for wide right. I have a picture in my office of me with my hands like this (arms thrust skyward). 

Q: How nervous were you before Norwood lined up to kick? 

A: Extremely nervous. But I will say this: Back then, on grass, that’s a long kick. Now it’s a chip shot. I wasn’t confident he was going to make it, I really wasn’t. 

Q: The 23-20 overtime win in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field in January 2008. How did you stay warm? 

A: I was in a press box (laugh). 

Q: So your face wasn’t red like Tom Coughlin’s? 

A: No it was not, but I felt cold for him because I had my binoculars on him the whole time, I could see his f–kg face turning red for three hours. But I loved every minute of it (laugh). 

Q: Did you have any hope that the Giants could beat the Perfect Patriots in Super Bowl XLII? 

A: I was pretty confident in that game, I really was because our defense was playing so well, and Eli was playing so well. 

Q: And after the game? 

A: Very euphoric. I guess that was my mom accepting the trophy back then, which was kind of exciting. 

Q: The NFC Championship game in San Francisco in the 2011 season. 

A: That was to me where Eli showed his toughness. 

Q: Super Bowl XLVI? 

A: I think we should have been favored in that game. We were peaking at the right time. 

Q: On the opposite end of the spectrum: The Fumble. 

A: I was sitting up in the press box with my dad. That was probably the all-time low in terms of watching the Giants, and especially watching with him. You could see just the desperation in his face after that happened [a Giants fumble on a handoff in the waning seconds when running out the clock was returned for a game-winning touchdown by Eagles DB Herm Edwards]. 

Q: One George Young memory. 

A: I was on the road scouting one year, and we were in our scout meetings before the draft, and I had been to Baylor University, and we’re talking about players, there’s a linebacker that I really liked, I was 24 years old at the time, I said, “This is the most instinctive player I’ve ever seen.” And George Young stops me and goes, (in high-pitched voice) “Huh? Huh? How old are you?” I go “24.” (High-pitched voice) “And he’s the most instinctive player you ever saw?” I go, “Yes.” Well, 25 years later when Mike Singletary was inducted in the Hall of Fame, I got a call from somebody who was in that room and said: “Hey, the most instinctive player you ever saw just got inducted in the Hall of Fame.” I kind of never let George live that one down (laugh), because he starred for many years while we were playing against him. But we did OK that year [1981] with the guy we took in the first round: L.T. 

Q: Bill Parcells? 

A: We’re in the draft room the year Dave Meggett came out. He was a little guy. So many of us really liked Dave Meggett, and we knew this was going to piss Parcells off because he was too little. So we draft Dave Meggett and Parcells goes apes–t in the draft room. He’s yelling at everybody, “What’s this guy going to do for me? How’s he going to pick up the blitz?” The great Whitey Walsh looks at him and says, “Just pitch it to him.” I was in charge of the board, like taking the cards down, right? So [Parcells] goes up to the board, he’s really pissed off, and he takes the card off and he basically throws it at me. Which I thought was kind of funny. So, an hour after the draft, he walks in to where my desk was in the draft room and he’s got a big smile, and he says to me, “You’re not going to believe this: Bill Walsh just called me, he wants to trade for Dave Meggett.” And sure enough, Parcells was like, “Wow!” That sold him. 

Q: Explain why Coughlin should be in the Hall of Fame. 

A: I just think anybody who’s won two Super Bowls deserves Hall of Fame recognition. He steadied our franchise and he made us relevant. 

Q: Why should Manning be a Hall of Famer? 

A: Pretty much the same reason. He won us two Super Bowls, and I think he was one of the greatest clutch quarterbacks of all time. 

Q: You started working for the Giants in personnel in 1979. 

A: I traveled for like six or seven weeks with a different scout each week, different parts of the country, and kind of learned the business that way. I was going to training camp since I was 8 years old, and it was always the part of the game I liked the most. I just thought going forward, if I’m going to work for the Giants for the rest of my life, what better way to learn about it as far as everything that goes on, personnel’s the most important. 

Q: Was there one player recommendation you’re most proud of? 

A: Look, we draft as a team, but I will say that I am very proud of the drafting of Mark Bavaro [fourth round in 1985]. My recollection is myself and Jerry Angelo stood on the soap box for him. 

Q: You were president and GM of the Arena League New Jersey Gladiators. 

A: I had a little scouting combine myself [Pro Rate] for free agency when free agency started, and I got a call and it was through someone that Parcells knew who had just bought the New Jersey team, and said, “I’d like to meet with you about the possibility of helping me with this team.” And I knew nothing about Arena Football at all. It was a great learning experience for me just being in charge, we had basically nobody working there. The place was a disaster, and it was a money pit for the owner, which was hard for me to deal with at that time. And then he ended up moving the team to Las Vegas. At that point, Ernie Accorsi was the GM, and I went back to work for the Giants then. 

Q: Three dinner guests? 

A: My grandfather [Tim], Spider Lockhart, Walt Frazier. 

Q: Clyde Frazier? 

A: He was my idol growing up. I used to go to a lot of Knick games with my dad, and he was my guy. 

Q: Spider? 

A: He was my football guy. I was his ballboy and I did a lot of his dirty work in training camp when I was a young kid. 

Q: Your grandfather? 

A: My grandfather who I didn’t really know. But that’s where I get my horseracing from (laugh). 

Q: Favorite movie starring your daughter, Kate Mara? 

A: “We Are Marshall.” 

Q: Favorite starring your daughter, Rooney Mara? 

A: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” 

Q: Favorite actor? 

A: Jack Nicholson. 

Q: Favorite actresses? 

A: The Mara sisters. 

Q: Favorite entertainer? 

A: Jimmy Buffett. 

Q: Favorite meal? 

A: Penne a la vodka. 

Q: The last time you left the Linc happy was in 2013. 

A: I can’t remember. 

Q: It was 2013. 

A: Like I said, I can’t remember (laugh). 

Q: You like the atmosphere at the Linc? 

A: If you’re an Eagle fan, it’s obviously terrific. For the visiting team, it’s probably the worst place to play in terms of the visiting team from a fan standpoint, from a family standpoint. Basically need bodyguards to get in and out of there, and I’m not joking around. 

Q: What do you like best about this Giants team? 

A: I love how big it is. Every time I talk to Parcells, he wants to know, “How big are they?” I love the size of them, and the toughness aspect. They’re really smart. I think we have a really, really good coaching staff, and it’s proven out. I still think we’re a little bit aways in terms of being that championship team, but we’re on the right track. And I love to use the expression, I use it in horseracing: the arrow’s up. 

Q: Your message to Giants fans? 

A: I think we got it right this time.