So I recently got a abu garcia blue max baitcasting rod and am new to the whole baitcasting thing. If you guys could help me out and explain what all the knobs and do dads do or if someone has a link to a really good video that would be much appreciated. I love the rod but spend most of my time walking backwards instead of fishing 

The first thing you should do after you've spooled up is to calibrate your reel. You can do this by adjusting the knob next to the reel handle (But not directly under the handle) until your lure falls slowly when you press the button to cast. You should do this every time you switch to a new lure of a different weight. The aforementioned knob directly under the handle is called the star drag, which you can turn (while holding the handle so that it doesn't spin with the star drag) to adjust the drag of the reel. There may or may not be a clicking wheel/knob thing on the opposite side of the reel that is the casting brake. Turn this up for while you're learning to cast, as it reduces your ability or likelihood of backlashing. When you become better with your casting, you can turn this knob down to get longer casts. Hope this helps.

The main use of the spool tension knob is to prevent line overrun at the moment your lure lands in the water. So that an untrained thumb doesn't have to worry too much. It's also the reason why the spool tension controlis used for adjusting for individual lure weight. Personally I don't adjust for lure weights less than 3/8 oz. or for more than 5/8 oz. Anything outside of those parameters, I adjust it based on the casting distance or as stated mainly for line overrun - that's if I don't get a birdnest before that.

The casting brakes is to prevent line overrun during your cast. I generally adjust to increase that during windy conditions and decrease it during calm conditions. It does affect casting distance too, just the same as lure selection type. When you get a birdnest in the middle of your casting, this the first thing I would look to increase. Generally for centrifugal type brakes, I use two brake shoes and leave it at that.

The drag star adjustment for me is first for the hookset. I want enough pressure to drive in the hook, but not to rip it out of the fish's mouth. That and also to make sure that my line doesn't snap on the hookset. If I need to up the pressure after I've hooked my fish, it's easy to increase. For catfishing, I generally have my drag set on the high end.

youtube has several helpful videos on baitcasting.best advice is to practice,practice,practice.

The manual that comes with the reel does a better job explaining the "do-dads" than any of us can. Once you learn the ins and outs of the centrifugal or magnetic brakes, you can tighten the thing down so hard that you can't MAKE it backlash!