New York Giants: Toxic McAdoo out of NFL in 2018?
By Curt Macysyn
We know that the tenure of former Big Blue head coach Ben McAdoo ended almost catastrophically for him and the team.
No one with a vested interest in the New York Giants could realistically make a case for keeping McAdoo, when he was fired. Players were mismanaged, game plans were mismanaged and discipline was mismanaged.
What else is left for a head coach to do?
Taken together, these issues may have made McAdoo a potentially toxic hire for NFL teams. We’re not just talking as an offensive coordinator, but as a position coach as well.
Based upon merit, or lack of it, McAdoo won’t get a coordinator slot any time soon. The harsh reality remains that he simply doesn’t deserve one right now, and his road back to respectability may take a very long time.
All sports leagues recycle coaches. Fail in one place, wait a few years, and then get a shot somewhere else. Think about it, there aren’t too many rags-to-riches stories when it comes to coaches. But there are many rags-to-rags stories around the NFL.
New York Giants
Sure, everyone likes to point to Bill Belichick, and that’s fair. He definitely learned something in his time with the Cleveland Browns. But anyone who saw his eventual rise back then is lying through his teeth.
Time sometimes erodes the ability of good coaches to remain at the top of their game. We have seen that happen with guys like Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells. Those guys were still good head coaches, they simply were not great anymore.
And there are head scratchers like Marion Campbell (career record: 34-80-1) with the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons in the 1970s and 1980s. Old New York Giants coordinator Romeo Crennel falls into the same category. How the heck did he get a second bite at the apple as an NFL head coach?
McAdoo as position coach?
The McAdoo legacy shows us the classic case of too much – too soon. He was clearly a product of exhaustive hype, more than being a productive lieutenant. Keep in mind the guy was never a head coach at ANY level before taking the New York Giants head job in 2016.
Geez, he was still at Fairfield as an assistant as late as 2002. He then spent some time as the Green Bay Packers’ tight ends and quarterbacks coach. He hitched his star to Aaron Rodgers, and it worked. After that, did spending two seasons as New York Giants offensive coordinator really give him the experience necessary to be an NFL head coach?
CHARLOTTE, NC – DECEMBER 17: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers rolls out under pressure from the Carolina Panthers defense during their game at Bank of America Stadium on December 17, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers won 31-24. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
In hindsight, the answer is an emphatic no, but when the rush to judgement was occurring in 2016, no one seemed to care. McAdoo was the next greatest thing, and the G-Men had to keep him away from the hated Eagles.
How did that work out for those NFC East rivals?
Fast forward to today, and NJ.com reports that McAdoo’s old mentor Mike McCarthy just hired Frank Cignetti as quarterbacks coach. It seems that some of the old band is getting back together in Green Bay – just not Ben McAdoo.
"“The Packers also will hire Joe Philbin as offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Combined with Cignetti’s hire, that means there likely is no place on staff for fired Giants coach Ben McAdoo, who could have had a soft landing in familiar territory.”"
The future is now
Given the fact that Philbin did an incredibly horrible job in Miami, McAdoo should rightfully be humbled. First, would you hire him to work with your team’s greatest asset? Secondly, now that his inability to work with players has been exposed, his next employer will have to think long and hard about an appropriate role. He will have to rebuild his résumé.
McAdoo will likely surface as a consultant first, and then maybe as a position coach. In fact, an easier path for him maybe the college ranks. But when someone not ready for prime time, gets and screws up a shot in prime time, they rarely own it. Look at Johnny Manziel looking down his nose at the Canadian Football League. If the choice is between playing in the CFL, or not playing, most would choose the CFL, yet Manziel hesitates.
McAdoo may not disappear as former NFL head coaches Rich Kotite and Ray Handley did. But I wouldn’t wager my hard-earned money that he will ever see a head coaching position in the NFL again.