Matt Rhule hopes for a stay of execution by hiring Ben McAdoo
/The Panthers announced that will be hiring Ben McAdoo as their new offensive coordinator. Carolina parted ways with Joe Brady mid-way through the 2021 season, and reports in the aftermath of Carolina’s disastrous season indicated that Matt Rhule was looking to hire a rockstar replacement. After Houston’s Pep Hamilton declined an interview with the Panthers, it became clear that Carolina wasn’t a primetime venue worthy of a rockstar headliner. Rhule resided to interviewing NFL retreads like Jay Gruden and Bob McAdoo or nobodies like Scottie Montgomery.
The #Panthers are expected to hire former #Giants HC and ex-#Packers OC Ben McAdoo as their offensive coordinator, sources say. They need to work out the contract, but there aren’t expected to be issues. McAdoo is back as an OC, where he initially rose to prominence.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2022
McAdoo, known most recently, for his struggles in New York as a head coach of bad Giants team, a bad mustache, and badly tailored suits. McAdoo was a successful offensive coordinator for the Giants before taking over as head coach when Tom Coughlin retired. New York's offense surged from the bottom of the league to 13th in 2014 and then to #6 in 2015 under McAdoo.
Prior to joining the Giants, McAdoo was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach for two years after a five-year stint as their tight ends coach. It’s McAdoo’s time at Green Bay that began the narrative that McAdoo was a quarterback guru. Aaron Rogers would win his one Super Bowl while McAdoo was there and he would then later be known for taking a contrarian view on top quarterback prospects like Sam Darnold while contending that guys like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson should be viewed as the better prospects.
McAdoo has his work cut out for him. Rhule looks like a man on death row and McAdoo is his last chance for a pardon. It won’t be easy for the McAdoo hire to exonerate Rhule. Carolina needs to massively upgrade the offensive line and the quarterback positions, and the Panthers need to find a way to make a playoff push if Rhule hopes to live another year. A longshot for sure, but there may be a way for McAdoo to get it done. It would require Christian McCaffrey returning to elite form, a free agency focused on immediate offensive line improvement and somehow hitting on a rookie quarterback that creates excitement about the future for the fanbase.
By Tony Dunn
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