No explanation is going to make Giants’ fans happy about the way Ben McAdoo benched Eli Manning last season, but the former head coach revealed in Peter King’s column that he is “at peace” with the decision. The main focal point of the piece, however, wasn’t on Manning’s benching. Rather, it was about what McAdoo learned during his time with the team.
The first thing he mentioned was his need to handle players better, particularly Odell Beckham Jr. McAdoo was criticized by many for his perceived emotional distance, and partially acknowledged that he needed to be more than an Xs and Os style coach when it came to Beckham.
“I should have seen my job with Odell was more than simply X’s and O’s; it was also helping Odell the person. He is not only a generational talent, but also bright and well-read, and I let him down early in his career. I will not make that mistake again,” one of the first parts of the column reads.
He also addressed his press conferences, which became notorious for not having much useful information at all. He admitted that his philosophy towards media needs to be overhauled, and stated “To me, press conferences became the only thing where I was not in it to win it; I just wanted them to be over.”
The part of the column that is the most talked about is the section about Eli Manning’s benching. “My bedside manner hurt me that week. I’m working on that… But if there’s one thing I want fans of the Giants to know, it’s that I made this call to try to make the Giants stronger for the future,” McAdoo said. According to him, he was doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Most Giants fans though, will disagree with that statement. Manning wasn’t benched for the rookie Davis Webb, but for Geno Smith, who isn’t taken seriously as a potential starting quarterback. The Giants didn’t gain much for the future by benching manning, and if they did, it was outweighed by the morale impact that it had for the fanbase.
It was a bad season at that point. And while McAdoo is correct in his statement that there’s no easy way to make tough decisions, the decision to end Manning’s streak only deflated the mood around the team even more. Still, it’s interesting to hear McAdoo’s own explanation of what went down, after much speculation went on about the reasoning behind his decision. See his full words for yourself here, and see what you think.