New York Giants: Analyzing the Ben McAdoo promotion

The New York Giants’ head coaching search is over, as NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported the team promoted Ben McAdoo

The Tom Coughlin Era is officially over and the Ben McAdoo Era is officially underway. After names like Doug Marrone and Mike Smith were being thrown around, the New York Giants decided to promote from within.

McAdoo was hired to be the offensive coordinator after a disappointing 2013 season in which Eli Manning led the league in interceptions. In the two years under McAdoo, New York’s offense never finished outside of the top 10.

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Of course, McAdoo came over from Green Bay after serving as the Packers’ quarterback coach. McAdoo, 38 (only three years older than his quarterback), is one of the youngest head coaches in the league. According to Kimberly Jones, McAdoo has worked with a top-10 offense in nine of his last 10 seasons.

McAdoo’s hiring isn’t necessarily a surprise, as the team always viewed him as a front-runner to be Coughlin’s successor. The Eagles were reportedly ready to hire McAdoo, which also could’ve played a decision in the Giants’ decision.

You have to wonder how much Philly’s interest affected the Giants’ decision, as the idea of losing a top candidate to fill a HC vacancy to an arch-rival isn’t pleasant.

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Although it wasn’t a blockbuster decision, promoting McAdoo was a smart, safe move by the Giants. And above all else, it was a classic Giants move.

Promoting from within is smart and limits changeover. The last Giants head coach to be promoted from within was when Bill Parcells took over after serving as the team’s defensive coordinator.

In McAdoo, the Giants know what they’re getting.

Perhaps more importantly, McAdoo already has a great relationship with Manning. A coach-quarterback relationship is severely underrated, and it will help make life after Coughlin easier.

Manning gave McAdoo a glowing endorsement, emphasizing his desire to remain in the same offense.

“Yep, of course,” Manning said, according to Ebenezer Samuel of The New York Daily News. “I feel very comfortable in the offense. We scored a lot of points, we were competitive in most of the games and I thought we had a great game plan. I think with the guys we have and add a few guys, we can be a strong offense.”

Eli isn’t the only quarterback who has high praise for McAdoo.

“Ben’s a great coach,” Aaron Rodgers said, according to Bob Glauber of Newsday. “He’s really advanced quickly, and the key is he’s got an excellent work ethic…[McAdoo] puts in the work and he cares about it. We had a great time working together, him in kind of a new role as a quarterbacks coach, and we learned a lot from each other.”

So despite his inexperience, McAdoo appears to have the mental build to be a good head coach, as it’s not likely Manning and Rodgers were just blowing smoke.

Another potential factor in McAdoo’s hiring is his ability to connect with players. Former player and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, like Manning and Rodgers, had immensely high praise for McAdoo, according to Paul Schwartz of The New York Post.

"“A relationship-driven coach, which I think is huge. This guy really does earn the respect of the players he coaches, really has a great impact in their confidence and their belief that they can go out and play even above and beyond what they even thought they would. I think special coaches have that trait. Guys like Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, they’re really specialists in that area. I played for Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, they get you play above and beyond anything you thought you could do but they do it a different way. Those guys are very hard on you, demand a lot from you, guys like Pete Carroll and Andy Reid take a different approach, and that’s what I heard about coach McAdoo. He is really able to make that connection with you on a one-to-one basis.’’"

It’s not like McAdoo was a coach who got into arguments with the players on the sidelines. He’s generally liked by the players, especially considering the offense’s success. Being compared to coaches like Reid and Carroll is certainly a compliment.

As of right now, the plan is to keep defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin is also likely to join McAdoo’s staff as the offensive coordinator.

Philbin and McAdoo know each other from their time in Green Bay. If Philbin does in fact join the Giants, New York will have a new head coach with two coordinators who have head coaching experience, which isn’t exactly a bad situation at all.

A big question I have about McAdoo is whether he really made the offense much better. There’s little evidence that suggests Odell Beckham Jr. wasn’t the main catalyst for the offense’s success. Sure, the unit began playing well — after struggling for the first two weeks — in the two-game span before Beckham saw the field, but the two games came against the 20th and 32nd ranked defense.

McAdoo also made some very questionable play calls in crucial situations, but that’s neither here nor there. Some of that could obviously be because of the conservative nature of Coughlin, but I digress.

There’s no denying that Manning has played better in McAdoo’s system, as he’s coming off another tremendous year. The familiarity for Manning, as well as the entire offense, is going to be huge. Now that the offense is secure and stable, the Giants need to address the defense.

Like I said earlier, this is not a crazy move that was unpredictable. He’s not Sean Payton or Hue Jackson, but he is reliable in the eyes of the Giants front office. McAdoo was on a short list of candidates, and he benefits from coaching under Coughlin for two seasons and Mike McCarthy in Green Bay.

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The move makes a lot of sense, though. It limits the uncertainty that comes whenever a team brings in a new head coach, and it’s a move the players seem to be fully behind.

If I had to guess, the Giants didn’t promote McAdoo to simply be a “bridge” coach, as in a coach who’s only hired before a better candidate comes along.

There will almost certainly be a learning curve for McAdoo, but any way you cut it, he was the safest and smartest hire for the Giants based on the remaining candidates.

Writers note:

Well, the search is over. I like the move, although it’s not exactly Nick Saban. However, McAdoo’s experience with the Giants will make the new-coach transition easier, and he was a much better option than Doug “Meh”rrone.