The New York Giants have found their guy. Earlier today, the Giants officially named Pat Shurmur as their new head coach. Adam Schefter reported the hiring on Twitter.
Giants officially announced Pat Shurmur as their new HC.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2018
Shurmur succeeds Ben McAdoo, who was fired with four games left in the season. The Giants had a 2-10 record when McAdoo was fired. General manager Jerry Reese was also fired that same day.
Shurmur said in a statement:
“I want to thank [co-owners] John Mara and Steve Tisch for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of the New York Giants. I am looking forward to getting to work with [general manager] Dave Gettleman and [assistant GM] Kevin Abrams and starting the process to once again build a championship team. I have been fortunate to work with many great coaches and players, and I am thankful for those relationships. I would like to thank my family and friends for their tremendous support.”
Shurmur has had great success recently as the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. He helped quarterback Case Keenum go from just a backup to having a career season. The Vikings offense under Shurmur were 10th scoring (23.9 points per game), and No. 11 unit in total yards per game (356.9) and passing yards per game (234.6).
This will be Shurmur’s second attempt at being a head coach. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2011-2012 but was fired after posting a 9-23 record over that span. Shurmur then became the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles before moving to Minnesota.
There is a lot of optimism to be had for Giants fans. The Giants hold the second overall pick in the NFL Draft and many believe they will pick Josh Rosen of UCLA with that pick. If Shurmur is given time to develop a young quarterback and recreate some of the magic from Minnesota, then good things could be on the horizon for the Giants.
