N.Y. Giants: Ben McAdoo's Few Known Allies Slowly Stepping Forward

From the desk of:  DO IT FOR THE DUKE

Getting by despite a lack of good friends; 

Oooo! Gonna try despite a lack of good friends.

New York Giants: Ben McAdoo Still Short On Friends Backing His Cause; Hard Building a Winning Culture Without Them.

Losing seems to bring out the worst in teams.  The Giants are no different. 

Adversity reveals just how weak or strong the ties that bind really are.

For sake of regurgitation, I refuse letting go of Coach McAdoo's early season criticisms directed at Eli Manning.  That was him talking out of his posterior, and just plain absurd.  I interpret his picking on a Super Bowl MVP caliber quarterback as a measured attempt at being a tough guy, which clearly didn't work.

Coach McAdoo then made a clear distinction between breaking team rules, and conduct detrimental to the team.  In the sense that only one of the aforementioned infractions results in disciplinary action.  He felt it necessary to suspend corner backs Dominique Rogers Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins for the former infraction, and I've been agreeable with that.  But with regards to the latter infraction, every one of Odell Beckham Jr.'s acts of high jinks and mayhem garnered nary a single word, and that's where he loses me.

Two head coaches have now turned a blind eye towards Beckham, which in my opinion flies in the face of command and control.

Tom Coughlin, though, had already reformed an Animal House culture left behind by Jim Fassell, and had already purged the malcontents, and had already won a pair of rings, way before Beckham's arrival in East Rutherford.  To be fair, Coughlin's demise as well as McAdoo's present malaise, can be attributed in part to Jerry Reese's increasingly glaring shortcomings as general manager.  Point being, however, Coughlin established a track record before his situation drew closer to conclusion.

So where are we with Ben McAdoo?  Sunday marks his 24th game as head coach of the Giants, and he's still trying to establish command and control.  Sure, he's dropping the hammer now.  But what if Odell were still playing?  That's why I believe the Giants present condition is worse than meets the eye.

That being said, Landon Collins flatly says everyone still respects Coach McAdoo. 

Jonathan Casillas took it a step further by speaking for Coach McAdoo, in reiterating how breaking rules brings consequences.  Casillas didn't stop there, and for the moment, appears to be McAdoo's biggest supporter.

Now more than ever, Ben McAdoo needs more leadership in the clubhouse backing his cause.  He seems short on allies for the moment.  And it's hard building a winning culture without them.

Eli and JPP strike me as being on the fence.  Both are without a doubt influential figures in the locker room.  But do they truly have McAdoo's back like they did Coughlin?

Bill Parcells most definitely had his clique of players, and so did his defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, for the matter.  Jim Fassell had his clique he could always turn to (even though they were a bunch of knuckleheads).  Coughlin cultivated his own clique as well.

Ben McAdoo's social club remains open to all comers, but very few seem to be rushing in.



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