Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule was searching for an offensive coordinator (OC) with prior experience and he is getting just that with Ben McAdoo.
“The one thing I do want, I’d like to find someone who has experience, having done it,” Rhule said after the season. “It’s one thing to make suggestions. It’s another thing to make the call. “One thing about these jobs, whether it’s being the starting quarterback, being the OC, being a DC, being a head coach, is every year you learn from the good things you did and the bad things you did.”
McAdoo was the former head coach of the New York Giants from 2016-17, after two years (2014-16) as their OC under Tom Coughlin. He will assume his position once the contract details are worked out. He will replace Joe Brady, who was fired with five games left in the season last year. Running backs coach Jeff Nixon, who was the interim OC, was never under consideration for the full time job. The Panthers only averaged 13.6 points while he led the offense.
Rhule reportedly interviewed eight of nine candidates before choosing McAdoo. He had previously thought about bringing McAdoo on as a senior offensive assistant when he became the Panthers head coach in 2020.
McAdoo also has had previous stops. He spent this past season as a consultant for the Dallas Cowboys. He was also the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers (2012-13) and offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers (2005). One of his first major duties will be to help Rhule to find an offensive line coach and rebuild the Panthers offensive line.
McAdoo has spent time coaching the tight end position, which is also in desperate need of an upgrade. He was the tight end coach at Green Bay in 2010 when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV. That experience was likely a key factor in his hiring decision.
McAdoo will take over a struggling offense that ranked 30th in 2021, with Cam Newton and Sam Darnold as their signal callers. In his first year as OC for the Giants, they went from 28th in 2013 to 13th in 2014. They jumped all the way to sixth in 2015. Two of his previous staff members are now with the Panthers, Sean Ryan (quarterback coach) and Kevin Gilbride (defensive analyst), but his role could change.
McAdoo was a major player in Eli Manning’s success when he was a Giant, helping him to achieve career-highs and improve his stats. Manning completed a career-high 63.1% of his passes in his first season under McAdoo, up from 57.5% in 2013. He also had 30 touchdown passes, the second most of his career at the time. Manning threw for a career-best 35 touchdowns in 2015 and completed 62.6% of his passes.
Rhule is counting on that level of consistency and improvement with the Panthers, who rank near the bottom in the NFL in passing yards, 29th, (190.1 per game), whether it is with Darnold, a quarterback that they acquire in free agency, or through the draft process. Darnold ranked 29th in passing this season, completing only 59.9% of his passes and nine touchdowns to 13 interceptions.
