In three words, Ben McAdoo — now the man in charge — succinctly described the state of the Giants.
“Evolution, not revolution,’’ McAdoo said Friday as he was officially ushered in as the 17th head coach in franchise history.
Indeed, the Giants did not tear their house down to the foundation. As much as co-owner John Mara declared this to be “a new era of Giants football,’’ it is more of a renovation than a total rebuild. McAdoo, the offensive coordinator the past two years working for Tom Coughlin, was given a four-year contract, tasked to get the Giants back into Super Bowl contention after four consecutive years out of the playoffs and three straight losing seasons. McAdoo will change much of the operation after 12 years of Coughlin’s reign, but this is a hire from within and not an organizational clean slate.
McAdoo said the makeup of his coaching staff is “fluid’’ and he would not confirm widespread reports he will retain defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. But when McAdoo said of his defense, “Being the second year in the system is going to help some guys,’’ he might as well have publicly signed off on Spagnuolo.
In his first public appearance as an NFL head coach, McAdoo, 38, wore an oversized suit — he recently lost weight and hasn’t gone clothes shopping yet — and came across as supremely confident not only in himself, but also in the preparation that allowed him to reach the height of his profession. It was only 14 years ago McAdoo was coaching high school football back home in Western Pennsylvania (Homer City, to be exact) and this could be viewed as a meteoric rise. After all, he is the second-youngest head coach in the league and has only two years of NFL coordinator experience.
McAdoo does not see it that way.
“No, I think it took too long,’’ he said of his ascending to an NFL head coaching position.
Looking back on his résumé, including eight years in the Packers’ organization, McAdoo said, “I’m hardened, battle tested and I’ve been groomed for this opportunity by Super Bowl winning coaches, players and organizations.’’ He described himself as “baptized by fire.’’
There are NFL jobs and then there is the head coach of the New York Giants, a flagship franchise.
“I like the pressure,’’ he said. “This is what you live for. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s the capital of the world, it’s the football capital of the world. What could be better than this type of opportunity and this type of pressure?’’
And this: “This job is not for the faint of heart and I’m the right man for the job.’’
McAdoo came out in front of a six-man field after a coaching search conducted by Mara and general manager Jerry Reese concluded with the expected result. Mara said his familiarity with McAdoo made him the favorite and nothing happened during the process to topple McAdoo from the top spot.
Coughlin plucked McAdoo out of Green Bay in 2014 to restructure and lead the Giants’ offense.
“It’s been a privilege and an honor the last two years to serve under Tom,’’ McAdoo said.
Coughlin, 69, resigned the day after the season, knowing ownership was set to part ways with him. He was at the Giants’ facility early Friday morning, working out, and offered some forceful advice to McAdoo, 31 years his junior.
“It was ‘Don’t mess with the clocks,’ and there may have been an adjective or two in there,’’ McAdoo said.
And so, the clocks inside the building will remain at Coughlin time — five minutes early.
“Thinking of a way to honor Tom,’’ McAdoo said. “We have our digital clocks they’re all five minutes fast and we’re going to stick with that, that’s TC time, that’s a part of Giants culture now.’’
McAdoo did not say if, as head coach, he will continue to call the plays. He is expected to elevate quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan to offensive coordinator. Other coaches will be retained — David Merritt, the safeties, coach, is expected to return, while receivers coach Sean Ryan is leaving the Giants for the same position with the Texans.
McAdoo said his goal is to add a fifth Super Bowl trophy to the glass-enclosed case as the team facility. The man he replaces earned two of those shiny silver trophies.
“The most important thing when we talk about leadership is you got to be yourself,’’ McAdoo said. “Everybody else is already taken, including Tom, so I can’t worry about being in Tom’s shadow, I got to be comfortable in my own skin and I am that.’’