Albert Breer reported Hank Fraley is looking for assistance in case he gets an opportunity to be Seattle’s next offensive coordinator. In trying to think of people who would fit the bill, I found one name that will initially be a turn-off — but perhaps he shouldn’t be?

Before I name the individual, I’ll set the scene by mentioning his last coordinator job in the NFL where he called plays, back in 2022.

In the final six weeks of the season, his team earned a 4-2 record playing a tough brand of football. It’s no exaggeration to say they were among the most physical teams in the league by the end of the year.

They averaged 167 rushing yards a game during this spell. If you take out a 21-yard rushing effort in a 24-16 defeat to the Steelers where they had to play from behind throughout — they averaged 195 rushing yards per game in the other five contests. This included 223 yards in a win against Seattle.

For a team wanting more commitment to the run and more production — this is the kind of thing they could be very interested in.

So who am I talking about? It’s Ben McAdoo, who last called plays for the Panthers under Matt Rhule and then Steve Wilks.

I appreciate this isn’t a name to get the juices flowing. Fans mostly remember his second season as the Giants Head Coach and an ill-fitting suit he wore at his introductory press conference.

However, there are reasons to at least consider him:

— The success in Carolina, in particular the brand of offense

— He has an offensive line background

— He has a connection to Green Bay and John Schneider

— He has gained widespread praise from the players in his current role

— He has shown an ability to work with other coaches as part of a collective

— He appears eager to rebuild his career

The Baltimore Ravens haven’t exactly had a back-catalogue of ‘trendy’ offensive coordinators over the years. From 2008 to current day the list is — Cam Cameron (2008-12), Gary Kubiak (2014), Marc Trestman (2015-16), Marty Mornhinweg (2017-18), Greg Roman (2019-22) and Todd Monken (2023-present). It also shows John Harbaugh has not had consistency in the role — perhaps something we should accept and embrace might be the case under Mike Macdonald.

In 2024 McAdoo worked for the Patriots as a Senior Offensive Assistant. According to this article he’s done a bit of everything — worked closely with Drake Maye and Joe Milton, conducted the Thursday offensive meeting, worked with the offensive line and running backs — and it all seems to have gone well.

Drake Maye:

“Ben’s been a head coach, an offensive coordinator, he knows a lot about football and knows a lot about play calling. He’s been another voice in the quarterback room who knows his place. He doesn’t speak all the time. He gives little tidbits like, ‘Stand in here’ or ‘Hang in the pocket.’ Sometimes, ‘Drake, if you see this, check it down.’ little things like that. He gives little tidbits throughout practices, throughout the week that go a long way.”

Receiver KJ Osborn:

“He’s very smart. He’s super helpful. On these third down days, he goes over that presentation about their coverages, some of the things they like to do on third down, pressures. Go over those presentations and I think he does a really thorough job of giving us a look and an idea of what we’ll see.”

Jacoby Brissett:

“You can tell he puts a lot of work into it – the details of things he does. His wealth of knowledge from being from a lot of other places, from being a play caller and those roles, he’s able to see it at a faster rate. Especially when he comes into our (quarterback) room, not just the big room. He’s able to pull up clips like, ‘We ran this with Eli (Manning) this time.’ It helps a lot.”

Quarterback Joe Milton:

“He follows me pretty much everywhere I go out there on the field. He makes sure I’m having fun, always being myself. Makes sure that I’m the same Joe every day. That’s pretty much how I try to approach my days. Go out there and have fun. That’s all you can do. He gets my footwork right. He makes sure I’m mentally sharp. Just because I’m not out there taking the reps, so he makes sure I’m mentally good. It’s very helpful for me because I get to learn from a head coach who was also a quarterbacks coach in his time. It means a lot to me.”

The comments are perhaps not altogether surprising, given the players likely knew they were producing quotes for a positive review of their coach. However, the play of the young quarterbacks certainly wasn’t a problem for New England in 2024. Maye looked excellent, much improved from his time at North Carolina already. Even Milton shone in week 18 — looking way beyond the player who struggled to impress at Tennessee short of having a big arm.

He’s been a Head Coach with the Giants. They finished 11-5 in his first season in charge. The second season was a calamity — with injuries robbing McAdoo of key players and a bunch of off-the-field problems led to some players being suspended for team violations. After a 2-10 start he was fired.

One of the reasons for his firing was the unpopular decision to end Eli Manning’s run of consecutive starts (210 over 13 years) in favour of playing a certain Geno Smith instead. For what it’s worth, Smith said he loved playing for McAdoo. If the Seahawks retain Smith, it’s no bad thing they’ve worked together before. If they move on, he just helped coach two young quarterbacks in New England.

He has the Giants experience to lean on. He’s been a play-caller in the NFL. He has an offensive line background. He’s only 47-years-old, so he has time to rebound from the setbacks in his career.

He was in Green Bay with John Schneider when McAdoo was on Mike McCarthy’s staff as tight ends coach, winning the Super Bowl in 2010. Schneider and McCarthy are said to be very close.

If Fraley needed someone who appreciates line play but also has a wealth of experience as a play-caller, has experience as a coordinator and a Head Coach, and by the sound of things is very prepared to work as part of a team of coaches without putting anyone’s nose out of joint or having any ego about his role, then this could be a candidate to consider.

I doubt they’d outright interview McAdoo for the coordinator job. Pairing him with Fraley might work. He’d provide experience and play-calling prowess/advice. He’s capable of working to support a coordinator.

Maybe it could work?

I suspect the Seahawks are not going to hire an offensive coordinator who basically needs to create a ‘Bevell and Cable’ double-act. There’s such a dearth of obvious candidates though. It’s very hard to look across the NFL and say, ‘that’s the individual the Seahawks should go after’. There are so few coaches with a play-calling history, let alone a successful one.

Unless a surprise candidate emerges, it does feel a little bit like they’re going to take another leap into the unknown. There isn’t an obvious home-run hire.

Bringing in McAdoo to work alongside Fraley would at least, if nothing else, make a commitment to the offensive line while also bringing in someone who has called plays before and has shown, albeit in a short stint with Carolina, that he’s capable of building a highly successful running attack.