New York Giants Football: Ranking the five worst head coaches in franchise history
By Matt Clark
1.) Ben McAdoo 2016-2017
Ben McAdoo currently remains atop the worst Head Coaches in New York Giants history, despite Shurmur making a hard charge for his title, and the fact that one of his two years was actually successful. McAdoo came over to the Giants having spent the previous two seasons as the quarterbacks coach for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
It is easy to forget that McAdoo’s tenure with the Giants actually started out on a positive note. In his first season as the Head Coach, McAdoo would go 11-5, tying Dan Reeves for the most wins for a first year Head Coach in franchise history. However, prior to the playoffs, the luster would begin to fade from McAdoo’s coaching shine, as the Giants would be embroiled in controversy, leading up to their playoff game with the Packers.
In the days leading up to their playoff matchup, the New York wide-receiving group led by Odell Beckham Jr., would post pictures of themselves partying on a boat. The Giants would go on to get drubbed 38-13 in what was an ugly game, further magnifying the boat incident and calling into question the decision making and leadership of McAdoo and the Giants staff. While the 11-5 season was both shocking and a success, when you really look at the numbers, the offense did not produce and Big Blue was extremely lucky in many close games. McAdoo truly had little to do with the success, as the defense is what led the Giants to the playoffs.
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The incident would be a precursor to the disaster that was the 2017 season. That infamous season would be marked by suspensions and fines to multiple players, including most notably star cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who were both suspended for games during the season. Rodgers-Cromartie was suspended for actions that violated team code of conduct, but it was later reported that those actions included making fun of head coach Ben McAdoo. The Jenkins suspension was due to him having an unexcused absence from practice. Following the suspensions, players anonymously went to reporters to inform them that McAdoo had lost the locker room and that the team had quit on him.
McAdoo’s issues came to a head when he decided to end the streak of 210 consecutive games started, of iron man quarterback Eli Manning, in favor of backup quarterback Geno Smith. Given Smith’s long history of poor performance as a NFL quarterback (with the crosstown Jets, no less), the backlash from fans was so fierce, Giants ownership was almost forced to fire both McAdoo and General Manager Jerry Reese, just to save face. That is exactly what they did. After beginning the 2017 season a dismal 2-10, McAdoo and Reese were relieved of their duties.
The meteoric rise of the Giants under McAdoo, followed by the mercurial deterioration of the team both on the field and in the locker room is unprecedented in franchise history. McAdoo will forever remain a punchline amongst Giants fans, for the short and very regrettable period that he was tasked with leading the team.