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New York Giants Should Not Promote Ben McAdoo to Head Coach

By Nikhil Potpally

Dec 6, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo look at the playbook during the second quarter against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo look at the playbook during the second quarter against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Following recent news concerning the resignation Tom Coughlin on Monday, a new void has opened regarding the head coaching job for the New York Giants. Among potential replacement candidates, I think offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo should NOT be promoted to the role.

The head coaching job opportunity of the New York Giants will be appealing to many suitors, for plenty of reasons. The Giants have been one of the best-run and premier organizations for years in the NFL. Owner John Mara will likely spearhead the search for the new man-in-charge, but I strongly believe that he should NOT promote offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo to the position.

The hiring of McAdoo two years ago was initiated by owner Mara, and not by the wishes of former head coach, Tom Coughlin. The lousy offense (highlighted by the porous offensive line), caused former OC Kevin Gilbride to become the scapegoat and resign. Mara wanted to “modernize” the offense because it was “broken”, according to him. I never thought the entire offense was broken, but rather the offensive line was broken causing a domino effect of problems.

By modernizing the offense with the hiring of McAdoo, the Giants have not played to the strengths of the roster. McAdoo’s offense relies on short throws and does not take the risks that Gilbride’s offense did. One of the priorities when hiring their new coordinator was to reduce Eli Manning‘s interception totals and improve his completion percentage. Obviously, throwing shorter passes was a simple solution, but unfortunately has eliminated the big-play threat which the Giants used to have.

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Manning has one of the best deep ball arms in the entire league. Old coordinator Gilbride took advantage of this and called for frequent deep balls during games. Due to this risky strategy, Eli was occasionally prone to interceptions and was also affected from his own receivers tipping balls into the defenders’ hands. McAdoo’s playcalling takes the downfield threat away from the offense. Other than a few deep balls McAdoo calls on 3rd downs, I have not seen the same big play threat as I have in the past under Gilbride. Those long touchdowns that Manning has thrown recently have been on broken plays and/or Odell Beckham Jr. catching a 15-yard pass and running past the defense for a 70-yard touchdown. By relying mostly on short plays, the Giants are not fully playing to their offensive strengths and potential.

Another flaw of McAdoo’s offense has been the complete lack of creativity. It seems like every other play is a screen pass or delayed handoff, which always results in a 3rd & long. The predictability of McAdoo’s playcalling is helping opposing defenses, because they can see right through him. For example, every time the Giants are in a 3rd & 10 or 3rd & 15, you know they will run a delayed handoff from shotgun or a screen pass hoping for additional yardage. It’s like they’re making no attempt to convert the third down, and instead are accepting that they are looking forward to punting the ball. If fans can accurately predict what plays the offense will run next, then you can bet that opposing defenses know what’s coming.

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The Giants had four running backs on the 2015-16 roster, but rarely ran the ball until the final few games. The committee of Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams, Shane Vereen, and Orleans Darkwa was not integrated very well, and was abandoned at the end of the season. First of all, what’s the point of carrying four RBs on the roster if you don’t run the ball? Second, the Giants did not utilize the running aspect this season, and have not used Vereen as many projected they would. Without a strong offensive line, it doesn’t matter if you have Adrian Peterson carrying the ball. When John Jerry and Marshall Newhouse are starting, I don’t think either the running backs or quarterback will have enough time to break the game open.

The biggest takeaway from the offense this past season has been the missed opportunities. Whenever the Giants are in the red-zone, they often find themselves unable to score a touchdown, and instead settle for field goals. Kicker Josh Brown had 30 field goals this season, compared to the team’s 36 passing touchdowns and 5 rushing touchdowns. Quite often, the Giants are within the 10-yard line but can’t score the TD. Result: FG. This offense leaves too many points on the board, and when your defense isn’t that good, you need all the points you can get.

(I’m not even going to get into McAdoo’s playcalling and clock management “strategies” during the final minutes of the game, because the QB and head coach share some blame here)

New York Giants
Dec 20, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) talks with offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo (center) and head coach Tom Coughlin (right) during the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium. The Panthers defeated the Giants 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

McAdoo is not only unqualified for the head coaching job, but has not proven anything during his time here. In fact, he seemed to unfairly reap the benefits of having Beckham Jr on the roster. Without Beckham, the Giants are 2-3. Without Beckham or Victor Cruz, the Giants are 0-1. As seen from the blowout loss to the Vikings, the offense did not appear to have a game plan. This game showcased my opinion of McAdoo’s offense, because this is what his system really is. Eli Manning is not Aaron Rodgers, and is not a “modern QB”. He is a traditional passer with a great deep-ball arm. That’s what made him a 2x Super Bowl MVP, and I can assure you that McAdoo’s offense will not win the Giants any Super Bowls in the near future.

From the past two years, I’ve gathered that owner John Mara hand-picked McAdoo as the future successor to Tom Coughlin. The past two years could have been an attempt to groom him to the bigger role, and the new opening places him in position to secure the job. I hope Mara doesn’t already have his mind set on promoting McAdoo, just so the offense doesn’t have to learn a new offense. I have nothing personal against McAdoo, but from watching, he is not ready for a head coaching job and isn’t qualified enough. (The three consecutive fades against the 49ers last year told me all I needed to know)

The Giants may not be looking to promote the other coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, due to his failed stint with the Rams and the bottom-ranked pass defense this year. As a fan, I hope the Giants take their time and thoroughly evaluate all possible options. Taking Sean Payton away from the New Orleans Saints would likely cost the Giants a high draft pick (a second or third-rounder), which may not be worth it due to the immediate need for talent on the roster. College options, such as Nick Saban or Urban Meyer, will likely prefer to stay in college. I like the potential of the Stanford head coach, but he will also stay in college. Bill Cowher and John Gruden are “big-name” options, but I consider Coughlin a better coach then both of them. There’s not many proven candidates to choose from, and there are many teams who are also looking for a new coach.

The Giants don’t want to turn into the Cleveland Browns, who change their coach every other year. The best course of action would be to clean house completely, and also install a new general manager. Jerry Reese has not built enough depth on the roster and has not drafted well during his tenure. Had they maintained a good offensive line under Coughlin and Gilbride, the Giants would likely not even be looking for new coaches just yet. After a few losing seasons, especially in New York, coaches can find themselves out of a job. Coughlin is still a Hall-of-Famer, and was under unfair pressure to leave.

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As a result, the Giants are in the market for a new head coach, and begin their search. Hopefully, they can find someone who will have similar success to Coughlin, though that could be too much to ask for. I don’t like some of the decisions Mara has been making recently, because sometimes it appears that they are emotionally influenced and not carefully analyzed. I don’t think offensive coordinator McAdoo is the right answer for the Giants, and do not advocate his promotion, based on what I’ve seen over the past couple of years.

Whether or not he was promised the promotion by Mara upon his hiring as OC, the Giants must make the correct choice and bring in someone to turn this team back in the right direction. If they hire someone else, they should NOT impose McAdoo or Spags as their coordinators, and should allow the new coach to decide. Whatever the decision is, they will have very big shoes to fill following Coughlin’s departure.

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