Giants make smart move in firing HC Ben McAdoo, GM Jerry Reese now
Less than 24 hours after Ben McAdoo said he would remain the Giants head coach until his “key card stopped working,” it stopped working. The Giants cleaned house Monday morning, firing McAdoo a week after he benched Eli Manning. They also fired GM Jerry Reese who had held his post for a decade.
This is what we call an implosion, folks.
McAdoo’s firing underscores the true meaning of the NFL’s acronym, Not For Long. McAdoo had only been in the Giants organization for four seasons. In his first two years as offensive coordinator under Tom Coughlin, McAdoo transformed the Giants offense from 28th in scoring to 6th. But when he was named head coach after Tom Coughlin “retired” in 2016, reaction was mixed. Many thought McAdoo, then 38, was short on experience. One of McAdoo’s biggest proponents was Eli Manning.
“I’m excited for the Giants organization and for the team. I think Coach McAdoo is a great coach, a great teacher, and will be a great leader of this team,” Manning said upon McAdoo’s hiring. “I’m excited to continue to work with him and grow within this offense, and get this organization back where it needs to be.”
McAdoo’s salty, quiet demeanor seemed to resonate with some players, while alienating others. He was notably incommunicado when it came to Odell Beckham Jr.’s antics. But of course it was McAdoo’s strange benching of Manning that was the final nail. McAdoo’s firing comes as the Giants fell to 2-10 after a tough loss in Oakland. The offense currently ranks 31st in points scored.
Remarkably this same group went 11-5 and participated in the postseason last year. But the secondary suffered a regression and Reese failed to build a respectable offensive line or receiver depth. When the team lost Beckham and to a lesser extent Brandon Marshall, they were toast. Reese’s reputation as a drafter has gone south in recent years and the first of his two Super Bowl is a large credit to the roster that was built by ex-GM Ernie Accorsi. There was no point waiting until the end of the season to clean house. East Rutherford is toxic and clearing the decks allows the team to gain some sort of positive trajectory. That should start Sunday when Eli Manning resumes the starting quarterback role, as ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports.
This clip of Manning from the sidelines of Sunday’s loss perfectly sums up this Giants season to date:
All the Eli faces. pic.twitter.com/2kCLYKeXVo
— Melissa Jacobs (@thefootballgirl) December 4, 2017
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo takes over as interim head coach, while asst. GM Kevin Abrams assumes the interim GM role. Good luck to them.
