Ben McAdoo Not Making Tom Coughlin Decision Look Better

The New York Giants took a major gamble when they elected to replace Tom Coughlin with Ben McAdoo as head coach. First impressions weren’t encouraging.

It’s important to remember that McAdoo is 39-years old. That is extremely young for a head coach in the NFL. Sure, there have been some success stories like Jon Gruden and Mike Tomlin. That doesn’t mean he’ll be them. The reason the Giants promoted him was obvious. They wanted Eli Manning to stay in the same offensive system. Whether he’s actually qualified for the job was a lingering question mark nobody could answer. This is the first time he’s been a head coach at any level.

So to think he might be able to replace Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl winner and improve the team from last year was nothing short of a colossal risk. McAdoo probably didn’t ease the fears of his bosses after the Giants’ first preseason game where they were systematically shut down by the Buffalo Bills 21-0. At home no less.

To say he was unhappy with the performance would be an understatement.

"“I just finished talking to the team. I told them we worked too hard to put a performance like that on film. They were more physical than we were, that was obvious. We need to take a long look in the mirror and bounce back.”"

It’s important to keep perspective that this is the preseason and coaches are allowed a little bit of leeway. Ben McAdoo shouldn’t be judged until he’s been able to make it through a season in the NFL. Still, part of the job of head coach is having players ready to play. He’ll have to get better at that quickly based on what people saw against a Bills team that was supposedly depleted by injuries.

One can imagine the firestorm that will erupt if the New York Giants actually finish worse than they were last season despite making so many expensive additions to their roster. Tom Coughlin certainly will sleep better at night were that to happen.