The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 plus 6 letter word HELICOPTER PARENT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
E
L
I
C
O
P
T
E
R
P
A
R
E
N
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "might he be coddling?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case might he be coddling? = helicopter parent.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.