Okay, maybe we all ran a little wild with the “rockstar” stuff when it came to the Carolina Panthers’ search for a new offensive coordinator. But ya know what? We’re gonna do it some more anyway . . .
It’s been a largely subdued two years under head coach Matt Rhule, particularly on offense. Between hardly getting their lead guitarist on stage, constantly cycling through underwhelming backing vocalists and completely bungling their choices at lead singer—the Panthers seem one more bad performance away from cancelling this tour.
Alas, Rhule has hired a new band manager to keep his act going and that man is Ben McAdoo. And, predictably enough, the move has been met with little to no critical acclaim.
Is it really all that bad though?
McAdoo may not scream “rockstar.” Hell, he looks way more like the sketchy guy outside the arena scalping tickets to the show.
While Rhule’s choice may come with red flags, and ones that are particularly telling of his own decision-making, there’s some good to this relatively unpopular number.
One of McAdoo’s hits came in his only official stint as an offensive coordinator, in 2014 and 2015 with the New York Giants. Even though much is made about how that offense dipped in his two succeeding campaigns as head coach, he gave the league a nice taste of what he could do as a play-caller and a play-caller alone prior to the promotion.
The complete and final recording from 2014 to 2017 wasn’t a sound one, as the Giants finished below league average in Expected Points Added Per Play (EPA/Play) in both the passing and running games. From a simpler outlook, those two final seasons at the absolute helm saw New York rank 26th and 31st in points and 25th and 21st in total yards, respectively.
But, again, those lowly spots on the charts were bogged down when McAdoo wasn’t the actual coordinator. When he was, the Giants ranked 13th in points and 10th in yards for 2014 and sixth and eighth for 2015.
That work, additionally, translated into the two most productive years for quarterback Eli Manning. His couple of seasons with McAdoo calling plays were the only ones where he finished with at least 4,400 passing yards and at least 30 touchdowns. He also kept the turnovers at a relative minimum, by Manning’s standards, tossing for just 14 picks apiece at his second-lowest career interception rate of 2.3 percent.
McAdoo—in another positive—has had his praises sung by another future Hall of Fame passer in Aaron Rodgers. The soon-to-be four-time Most Valuable Player, who spent two seasons in Green Bay alongside McAdoo, credited his former quarterbacks coach with providing an invaluable amount of preparedness and comfortability.
“I said ultimately I need and have always needed a guy who gets me prepared every week and can give me the opportunities to reach my potential,” said Rodgers said back in 2014. “And Ben did that every day the last two seasons for me and the other quarterbacks in the room. It was fun to see his personality even continue to come out this year as we became closer and as he just allowed himself to relax and be comfortable in those rooms.”
Rodgers’ sentiment was shared by the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, who worked closely with McAdoo in 2021. Head coach Mike McCarthy, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn all hit those very same points about McAdoo for his role as a consultant—where he presented a previously unrealized level of preparation.
“Ben McAdoo has brought an element to staff that we didn’t have last year,” McCarthy said in November. “The pre-planning is lot more in-depth. So it’s definitely saving Dan and Kellen time on Mondays. I think our whole process has improved.”
“These weeks are huge to have guys like Ben that have already seen these guys and watched them and have their observations, notes and all that sort of stuff,” Moore said even earlier in September. “It’s huge to have guys like that who are ahead of it. In a week like this, you’re a little compressed. You can get a head start.”
And, perhaps most importantly, McAdoo has proved to have quite an eye for talent under center. That could certainly come in handy for the Panthers, who have been derailed by Rhule’s faith in Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold.
In 2017, McAdoo reportedly made a spirited push for the Giants front office to trade up into a position to draft Texas Tech University’s Patrick Mahomes. The year after, following his dismissal, he chopped it up with the New York Post and gave his unofficial big board at the quarterback position—ranking Josh Allen first and Lamar Jackson second, followed by Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Mason Rudolph and then Baker Mayfield.
Oh, and in another evaluation that may come to roost for somebody in 2022, McAdoo was pretty spot-on about 2018’s third overall pick in Darnold.
“I think the kid the Jets drafted has a lot of magic in his game,” McAdoo said. “I think he’s special. He’s obviously a talented guy, he can make plays with his feet. I’d just have a hard time drafting a guy in the first round where you don’t necessarily like the way he throws.
“He can overcome it, guys have, but that’s something that’s a challenge for me. I’m gonna be looking at that, trying to fix it, because it’s a fundamental flaw, and I believe in the fundamentals. The quarterback, his No. 1 job is to pass the football. If I don’t like the way he throws the ball, I have a hard time picking him, right?”
Well, even if he’s right about one of their current quarterbacks, the Panthers seemingly didn’t have a hard time picking McAdoo this past week. The broader concerns, regardless, will remain throughout the offseason.
Why did Carolina go with a not-so-nuanced name in what’s become a progressively offense-minded league? And why is McAdoo, who failed to secure the Panthers’ quarterbacks coach job in both 2020 and 2021, suddenly good enough to man a more burdensome post as offensive coordinator?
Rhule has now made the move that’ll ultimately keep making or end up breaking his tenure as head coach of the Carolina Panthers. So, for his sake, hopefully McAdoo is ready to rock and roll.
