)
The New York Giants' search for Tom Coughlin's replacement ended a few doors down from the former head coach's office as the franchise announced the promotion of Ben McAdoo on Thursday.
In replacing the 69-year-old Coughlin, the NFL's oldest coach at the time of his resignation last week, McAdoo, 38, becomes the NFL's second-youngest coach behind the Dolphins' recently hired Adam Gase.
"I am honored to serve as the 17th head coach in the history of the New York Giants franchise," McAdoo said in a statement.
"I am thankful to the Mara family, the Tisch family and [general manager] Jerry Reese for this opportunity. I have been very fortunate to have a lot of great coaches, administrators and players take an interest in me and my career. It has been a privilege to work and learn under coach Coughlin.
)
)
)
"I have been preparing for this moment my entire professional life, and without the guidance and support of many people, I would not be here right now."
While McAdoo becomes the head coach with the support of Giants players, quarterback Eli Manning in particular, he takes over from Coughlin after being a coordinator for only two seasons and with no head-coaching experience.
Giants president John Mara added: "Ben is an outstanding young coach who has great experience and has done a good job as our offensive coordinator these past two years.
"We were all impressed with his energy, his enthusiasm, his vision and his desire. Ben has been preparing for this opportunity since he started coaching, and he has earned his stripes every step of the way.
"Some have suggested he may not be ready, and as I said last week, we want a coach who feels like he has something to prove."
Thursday's announcement caps a relatively quick rise to what many argue is the best available job in the NFL. McAdoo's first job in the league was in 2004 as an offensive quality control assistant with the New Orleans Saints. He moved on to the San Francisco 49ers the next season and then joined the Green Bay Packers, for whom he coached tight ends for six seasons and then became Aaron Rodgers' quarterback coach for two seasons.
Coughlin hired him in 2014 to replace Kevin Gilbride, and McAdoo's version of a West Coast offense revived the Giants attack, in no small part because of the addition of receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
The Giants (6-10) had the NFL's eighth-ranked offense in total yards and were No. 6 in scoring in 2015.
McAdoo earned praise for his work with Manning, who completed 63 percent of his passes the past two seasons under McAdoo's tutelage and threw for 65 touchdowns with only 28 interceptions.