Can one New York failure save another? The Panthers want to know the answer.
Carolina will interview Ben McAdoo for its offensive coordinator position on Tuesday, The Athletic reported, making it possible the former Giants head coach will be tabbed to fix former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.
McAdoo, who was fired in late 2017 following a 2-10 start and much-loathed benching of Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith, worked as a consultant for the Cowboys this season after spending a year as Jacksonville’s quarterbacks coach.
The Panthers are seeking an offensive mind who will prove better than Joe Brady, whom Matt Rhule had hired and then fired in early December while Darnold and the offense flatlined.
Darnold just completed his fourth season and first away from the Jets. He showed plenty of promise as a capable game manager during the Panthers’ 3-0 start to the season, but his play declined before a fractured scapula forced him out for six weeks. Carolina couldn’t score with Darnold then couldn’t score without him, as Cam Newton contributed to a disappointing, 5-12 finish.
Ben McAdoo will interview to be the Panthers new offensive coordinating and likely be tasked with fixing Sam Darnold. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post (2)The Panthers are on the hook for Darnold’s $18.9 million 2022 salary, which makes it difficult for the team to give up on the former third-overall pick. General manager Scott Fitterer acknowledged last week that the 24-year-old “will be back” in Carolina, and so it’s up to the Panthers to surround him with talent and an offensive coordinator who can maximize Darnold.
“When we protect him and he gets the ball out quick,” Fitterer told reporters, “he looks like a good NFL quarterback.”
McAdoo was well-regarded as Aaron Rodgers’ quarterbacks coach in 2012-13, which led to an offensive coordinator position with Tom Coughlin’s Giants. McAdoo is credited for breathing life into Eli Manning, who threw for the most yards in a season in his career during the two campaigns McAdoo served as his coordinator.
He graduated into the Giants’ head coach for the 2016 season and watched an 11-5 team fall to the Packers in the playoffs. The Giants came apart the following season, and McAdoo benching Manning and halted his streak of 210 consecutive regular-season games started for Smith, which proved to be a hit he could not return from.
Now it’s possible the Panthers give him the latest chance to solve a quarterback the Jets couldn’t.
