Pros And Cons Of Ben McAdoo As Next Head Coach For The New York Giants

News broke last night that the New York Giants are likely to hire Ben McAdoo as the 18th head going of the franchise, according to multiple sources. Initial reactions have been mixed, although as Bill Parcells said, the list of candidates was pretty thin. If the Giants do end up promoting McAdoo, it may have been the plan all along to have him as Tom Coughlin’s successor, but sped up by the fourth consecutive losing season.

Hiring a 38-year old first-time head coach will certainly come with baggage, but no doubt it was to the delight of many in the locker room. Eli Manning has been a proponent for McAdoo from the start. “From a selfish standpoint, yes, I’d like to be in the same offense,” Manning said. “I think coach McAdoo and I work well together… We were on the same page and I think we did a really good job.” Odell Beckham Jr has also voiced his preference for McAdoo as the next head coach. Keeping the offense for the immediate future happy was certainly a factor in choosing their new head coach.

The ownership also gets what it wants in terms of continuity. Sure, Coughlin is gone, but many of the same faces will be in the locker room from a staffing perspective. Per Patricia Traina of Bleacher Report, many of the assistant coaches have time left on their contracts, but were interviewing for other jobs around the league. Since McAdoo was promoted, it’s likely many will stay.

McAdoo has been integral in Eli Manning’s resurgence, and before that helped Aaron Rodgers become a top-tier quarterback. No doubt the Giants were thinking further down the line than Manning. Perhaps, McAdoo will have a similar effect with the next quarterback who he would have a hand in choosing.

McAdoo is just 38-years of age and has only been calling plays for two years in the NFL. The Giants are coming off a season where clock mismanagement was as prevalent as it’s ever been. Those errors came with a two-time Super Bowl coach and quarterback with above average football intelligence. McAdoo has none of that experience on his resume.

Also, McAdoo is purely an offensive-minded coach. He’s done a fantastic job transforming the 28th ranked offense into the 8th ranked offense under his tenure. However, the Giants defense was one of the worst in the league. Steve Spagnuolo is expected to remain the defensive coordinator under McAdoo. Granted, the personnel on defense was an issue in 2016, but can just free agency transform a defense from worst to first?

Keep in mind that the big name staff from a disappointing 2015 season will almost all be in place for 2016. After missing the playoffs six times in seven years, the organization may have needed an injection of new energy. Hiring McAdoo doesn’t cause a major stir in an organization that requires a shakeup. Was a Hall Of Fame coach really the entirety of the problem?

For Giants fans, McAdoo’s future should be looked at with optimism. He should keep the offense trending upward while Jerry Reese has approximately $50 million in cap space to fill the gaping holes on defense. As an added bonus, McAdoo was a top target for the Eagles. So, if nothing else, the Giants kept “the next Andy Reid” from heading to Philadelphia.