Giants Said to Promote Ben McAdoo to Head Coach

Ben McAdoo, Head Coach

Two years ago, when the Giants named the little-known Ben McAdoo as their new offensive coordinator, the team co-owner John Mara, who approved the hiring, conceded that he did not know Ben McAdoo from Bob McAdoo, the 1970s-era Knicks forward

Mara obviously knows all about Ben McAdoo now

With Mara’s imprimatur, the Giants were close on Wednesday night to completing a multiyear contract that would make McAdoo the team’s head coach, replacing Tom Coughlin, according to people briefed on the negotiations who were not authorized to speak about them publicly

The Philadelphia Eagles’ interest in hiring McAdoo to fill their vacant head-coaching position — McAdoo interviewed for that job last week — was most likely a consideration in the Giants’ decision, although several team officials have always considered McAdoo a front-runner for the job. The Giants were also surprised Wednesday when one of their potential candidates, the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, unexpectedly spurned their request for an interview

Jackson instead accepted an offer to coach the Cleveland Browns, and that may have swiftly forced the Giants’ hand on what to do about McAdoo

The Giants had interviewed five candidates in the last nine days in addition to McAdoo, who coached for eight seasons in Green Bay before joining the Giants. But negotiations with McAdoo intensified just hours after Jackson, who had planned to meet with Mara and Giants General Manager Jerry Reese on Thursday morning, canceled his flight to New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon

McAdoo, 38, was schooled under Packers Coach Mike McCarthy and was viewed as a potential head coach from the time he was brought to the Giants. But the question that has lingered about McAdoo is whether he was ready to act as a head coach, something he has never done at any level of football