Ben McAdoo, Jerry Reese fired by Giants amid tumultuous second season

Less than a week after handing their longtime quarterback an unceremonious end to the season, the New York Giants once again employed an early hook.

The Giants fired coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese on Monday amid a calamitous 2-10 campaign and tumultuous benching of Eli Manning, giants co-owner John Mara announced, saying "wholesale changes" were needed.

"We've kind of been spiraling out control here," Mara said. "I just felt like we needed a complete overhaul."

Defensive coordinator Steve Spanuolo will take over as interim head coach, while assistant general manager Kevin Abrams has been named interim GM.

McAdoo announced last Tuesday that Manning would not start the team's final five games. The Giants originally offered Manning the chance to extend his starting streak before giving way to Geno Smith and Davis Webb in the second half of games, but the veteran declined. Mara said Monday that plan was originally devised by McAdoo but that he signed off on it.

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"You ought to stop blaming Ben and Jerry on that," Mara said. "If you want to blame anybody for that, blame me. I certainly had the power to overrule it if I wanted to. I chose not to do it."

Manning's streak ended Sunday at 210 games, trailing only Brett Favre's run of 297 in NFL history, as the Giants fell 24-17 to the Oakland Raiders. Manning said after the game that he is "not mad at anybody" and did not want McAdoo to be fired, but he clarified that he intends to play next season.

Mara said no decision had been made about whether Manning would be made starter again. He added that the fallout from the move had no impact on the firing of either McAdoo or Reese.

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The in-season firing represents a rare move for the Giants, who had not dismissed a coach before the end of the year since Bill Arnsparger's dismissal in 1976. In a Nov. 13 statement, Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch said that they did not plan to make any moves until the conclusion of the year. But asked last Wednesday about McAdoo's job security, Mara said, "There are no guarantees in life."

McAdoo's tenure also was the shortest of any full-time Giants coach since Earl Potteiger in 1927-28. He finished with a 13-15 record.

McAdoo first joined the Giants as an offensive coordinator in 2014. He was promoted to the top position in 2016, taking over following the forced resignation of Tom Coughlin. 

The Giants finished 11-5 and earned a wild-card berth in McAdoo's first season, but the offense ranked just 25th in the NFL. Any optimism for improvement from the unit was dashed in early October, when wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall were placed on season-ending injured reserve.

The season further unwound as cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins each were issued suspensions for violations of team rules. 

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