McCarthy's Cowboys Hire Former Giants Coach Ben McAdoo

No matter how we got here, head coach Mike McCarthy's Cowboys have themselves a new "consultant'' in McAdoo.

FRISCO - Maybe Ben McAdoo has gotten a bad rap during much of his time as a coach in the NFL. Or maybe his new position with the Dallas Cowboys is the result of the NFL being a "who-you-know'' business.

Either way, head coach Mike McCarthy's Cowboys have themselves a new "consultant'' in McAdoo.

McAdoo, 43, was the Giants’ head coach from 2016-17. His overall record as a head coach in the NFL is 13-16. But New York fans would say that's a bit deceiving as he took over the team in his first year and went 11-5, but then in Year 2 began 0-5, oversaw a rash of off-field behavioral problems, orchestrated the benching of QB Eli Manning, and finally fired late in the year when the team was 2-10.

More than two years later, McAdoo re-emerged on the NFL scene as the 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars QB coach. Head coach Doug Marrone’s club went 1-15 Jags, and McAdoo and the rest were fired, making room for the Urban Meyer era.

Undeniably, one of McAdoo's strongest credentials is his connection with McCarthy. He coached under McCarthy in Green Bay, working with the Packers' tight ends from 2006-11 and the quarterbacks from 2012-13. But before that, he was a low-level staffer with the Saints (2005) and the Niners (2006). The person who helped hire him to both spots?

Mike McCarthy, who was the offensive coordinator in New Orleans and then in San Francisco at the time.

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It is not an indictment of McAdoo’s talents as an administrator or coach or consultant to have such a long association with a head coach. In fact, it's normal - though some would say all-too-normal.

McCarthy has the right to surround himself not with "yes'' men, but with trusted advisors. ... yes, even another trusted advisor who happens to have grown up in Homer City, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour away from McCarthy's beloved hometown of Pittsburgh.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.