ESPN’s Riddick on McAdoo: ‘He could be that next superstar young coach’
As a former NFL safety and scout with the Redskins and Eagles, Louis Riddick not only has a strong background in personnel, but has particularly keen insight when it comes to coaches and coaching prospects.
Riddick, currently a football analyst for ESPN, Wednesday morning predicted to The Post the Giants would select Ben McAdoo as their next head coach — several hours before the hiring became official. After extensive research on the list of available candidates, Riddick stamped McAdoo as a rising star.
“A relationshipdriven coach, which I think is huge,’’ Riddick said. “This guy really does earn the respect of the players he coaches, really has a great impact in their confidence and their belief that they can go out and play even above and beyond what they even thought they would. I think special coaches have that trait. Guys like Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, they’re really specialists in that area.
“I played for Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, they get you to play above and beyond anything you thought you could do but they do it a different way. Those guys are very hard on you, demand a lot from you, guys like Pete Carroll and Andy Reid take a different ap proach and that’s what I heard about coach McAdoo, he is really able to make that connection with you on a onetoone basis.’’
Elevating a coordinator with no headcoaching experience is always a risk, but that risk is mitigated for the Giants because McAdoo has been in the building for the past two years.
“Only they know whether or not he’s able to handle everything that comes along with sitting in that chair,’’ Riddick said. “That gives them a great advantage as far as making a decision there.
“The great advantage they have is they’ve seen him in their environment. You cannot discount that familiarity
and you cannot discount the fact they’ve had oneonone interaction with him. They’ve built a relationship with him and they kind of know what that interaction and relationship has been like and what it can potentially be like.’’
Riddick acknowledged the allure of candidates with headcoaching experi ence — he had no problem endorsing Mike Smith — but viewed McAdoo as the logical choice.
“You know Eli is in the twilight of his career, you don’t want to waste those years trying to get him comfortable with someone else,’’ Riddick said. “[McAdoo] could be the next Andy Reid. He could be that next superstar young coach who you can have around for 10, 12 years, and that’s really what the Giants are like. That’s what they want to do, they’re like the Steelers, those kind of franchises that exude stability. If you are going to take a chance on someone, take a chance on someone you know a lot about.’’