The New England Patriots’ shocking appearance in Super Bowl LX can be attributed to many…
Mike Vrabel. Drake Maye. Christian Gonzalez. Milton Williams. Josh McDaniels. Zak Kuhr. Rhamondre Stevenson. Stefon Diggs. Marcus Jones. Will Campbell. Robert Spillane. Carlton Davis III.
I’d probably have to list several dozen others before getting to one under-the-radar assistant coach who received some extremely kind words from his boss during Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night.
“Slickback Mac has done a fantastic job with our defensive coaches,” Vrabel said during his media availability, referring to senior defensive assistant Ben McAdoo.
McAdoo’s history is on the offensive side of the football, where he worked his way through several organizations — New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers — for more than a decade before finally landing his big break as head coach of the New York Giants in 2016. It’s safe to say things didn’t go well, as he didn’t even last two seasons and eventually found himself out of football at two different points before landing at One Patriot Place.
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It’s in his current role where he made one thing abundantly clear — the title didn’t matter, he just wanted to help.
“He kind of filled the role that I did last year in Cleveland. He’s an offensive-minded coach, and he met with me, and he said, ‘Just tell me I’m an assistant coach. I want to be here, and I’ll do whatever you ask me to do,’ Vrabel said.
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“I appreciate that every second that he said it. He’s embraced that role. He’s helped the defense… I think our players and our coaches have really appreciated that perspective that he’s brought from an offense and translated it to defense.”
McAdoo has several different responsibilities, including providing advanced scouting reports to interim defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams, while also handling the scout team and providing quarterback reports ro Kuhr, Williams and Vrabel.
So far, it has been a job well done — though there’s still one game left to make an impact
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