One of the interesting sub-plots of the New York Giants' promotion of Ben McAdoo from offensive coordinator to head coach is the idea that the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles might well have hired McAdoo if the Giants had not. How close did the Eagles get to snatching McAdoo out from under the Giants?
Maybe we will never know the answer. That doesn't mean we can't speculate.
There was this tweet from Eagles' reporter Jeff McLane on Wednesday night:
#Eagles were in on Ben McAdoo and we're ready to hire the new Giants head coach, according to two NFL sources.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 14, 2016
Another Eagles writer, Derrick Gunn, said Philadelphia "had a lot of interest" in McAdoo as their next head coach.
Why was Philadelphia so intrigued by McAdoo? Perhaps because they thought he might be the next Andy Reid. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick thinks that is one of the reasons the Giants hired him:
"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.''
With the Giants having hired McAdoo, and the Eagles now apparently having serious discussions with ex-Giants coach Tom Coughlin, it is ironic to think of Coughlin as a potential consolation prize for the Eagles.