How To Get Ben McAdoo's Easy, Casual Sideline Look

Even before the NFL required coaches to wear team-issued clothing back in 1993, the league was in something of a fashion crisis. In earlier generations, NFL coaches were the sort of people who wore suits on the sideline, ate a 28-ounce unit of beef, drove home with BAC's three and four times above today's legal limits, and then changed into second, identical suits before climbing into bed. There is no reason to mourn this, really, although it is regrettable that men no longer have names like Weeb Ewbank and that the only people currently wearing natty Tom Landry-style hats are men's rights activists and Jeremy Piven.

The days of the well-dressed NFL head coach were already in decline by the time of that 1993 rule change, as fashion innovators like Wayne Fontes and Bill Parcells challenged and finally changed the way the world thought about flame-retardant pullovers, tucked-in sweatshirts, and alarmingly and inexplicably translucent polyester-blend golf shirts. Their revolution in coaching-wear continues to this day, with innovators like Bill Belichick—widely credited with originating the Seething Vagrant look that inspired Kanye West's early collections—and Andy Reid still pushing the conversation forward one Sunday at a time. Within the limitations imposed by the NFL's apparel deal and the avant-garde physiques that are the rule in the coaching community, today's coaches still find ways to express themselves with their clothing. And this year, no look has spoken louder than the ones favored by New York Giants rookie head coach Ben McAdoo.

is it just me or does ben mcadoo always look like he's wearing a disguise — Mina Kimes (@minakimes)September 11, 2016

At 39, McAdoo is young by NFL coaching standards, but his easy, confident approach to sideline fashion is fully mature—a melange of thoughtful homages to other innovators with a healthy dose of "I woke up like this" brashness. He has also benefited immensely from the unspoken NFL rule that assistant coaches must dress like their head coaches—witness, for instance, the way that all of Belichick's assistants prefer looks inspired by Matthew Modine's training attire in Vision Quest. Because McAdoo's previous boss was Tom Coughlin, and because rules are rules, he has adopted the sartorial approach of the Bill Parcells Coaching Tree. The result is some extremely intriguing shit.

Now that McAdoo has a team of his own, he's exploring the outer boundaries of Officially Licensed NFL Coaching Apparel with new confidence. Look at this fucking king:

The important thing to note about this photo is that McAdoo is not obese. He has a large, rectangular hamsteak of a coach-style body, but the reason he appears to be made entirely of meringue in the photo above is that McAdoo's jumbo windbreaker is three or so sizes too large, and when that garment is filled with wind on a breezy day the effect is stunning. Add some tactical shades to complete the look, and there it is—part Parcells homage, part Child's Drawing Of Jeff Fisher come to horrible life, but all of it imbued with a faintly upsetting Jon Gruden vibe and all of it, always, distinctively McAdoo.

But there's no reason you couldn't make this look yours—the upside of all NFL coaches dressing in team-logo sports pajamas at all times is that it's easy to recreate their looks with a little patience and a healthy disregard for traditional sizing. Here's how you can get that Ben McAdoo look:

• The Windbreaker: Generously cut, water-resistant, and with short sleeves that leave your forearms free to wonder about the utility of a short-sleeved windbreaker, the Nike Quarter Zip Hot Jacket ($79.99) is one of a kind. The interplay of billowing water-resistant fabric, random drawstrings, and girthy gusseting makes the look easily customizable. Buy it in your size to look like a weird child wearing a tarp, or go big—really literally very big, like get the same size windbreaker that a man who weighs fully 125 pounds more than you would wear. Do what McAdoo would do: have fun with it!
• The Sunglasses: In fashion as in coaching, winners take chances. There are any number of reasons why McAdoo might have chosen to go with Under Armour's UA Edge sunglasses ($79.99), from the adjustable nosepad to their sleek aesthetics. But where the windbreaker is soft, these glasses are hard—both because they're crafted from an ultra-light blend of titanium and Grilamid and because of the edgy statement they make. Polarized lenses, polarizing look. That's McAdoo.
• The Long-Sleeved Tee: See, this is what I was getting at when I questioned the utility of the whole short-sleeved windbreaker concept.