Pat Shurmur was a losing coach.
The 9-23 record over his two seasons shepherding the Giants proves that. It shows that being good coordinator doesn’t translate to running the whole show.
The Giants knew it and make the call this morning, dismissing Shurmur from his tenure.
“Steve and I have had many extensive discussions about the state of the Giants,” Mara said. “This morning, we made the very difficult decision that it would be in the best interest of the franchise that we relieve Pat of his duties. The last three seasons have been extremely disappointing for the organization and our fans. Pat has been a successful and highly-respected NFL coach for 21 years and he is not solely responsible for our record. But we came to the conclusion it is best to have a fresh start with the coaching staff. We very much appreciate how much Pat has done for this franchise. He is a man of character and integrity and the team has conducted itself with pride and professionalism.
“As owners, we take full responsibility for our recent poor record. It is our goal to consistently deliver high-quality football and we will do everything in our power to see that there is a rapid and substantial turnaround.”
Mara added that the Giants are keeping general manager Dave Gettleman, because of the foundation he built so far in his two seasons. “We believe he is the right person to lead us going forward. Dave has a long record of success,” Mara said. “We think he’s capable of putting a great team together and he’s going to get that opportunity. To the extent we need to make changes in personnel or the way we do things, we’re going to discuss that.”
So Shurmur goes and Gettleman stays, but the Giants are back to square one and need to find the right coach for the near future.
And outside of some sort on confluence in Foxboro over the next week, Bill Belichick is probably the longest of longshots, so the Giants shouldn’t pin their hopes of bringing Bill home.
Instead, they will need to find the right coach that fits into Gettleman’s philosophy and can develop an offense with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, while rebuilding the defense.
Ron Rivera seems to check all the boxes with his relationship with Gettleman, but it seems that Daniel Snyder will do almost anything to get him to Washington.
Jason Garrett may be available, if Jerry Jones drops the ax, and he has history with the team. However, do you really see Garrett on the Giants sideline and based on his history with Dallas, is he the right fit?
That’s the question Mara, Steve Tisch and Gettleman all have to answer over the next month. The Giants are a premiere NFL franchise and can’t be run like the Cleveland Browns, going through coach after coach.
With Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo and Shurmur all patrolling the sidelines over the past three seasons, the Giants need to get the right guy and build with him.
“The search will be extensive,” Mara said. “We understand this a very big decision for our franchise. We’ve had three losing years in a row and, quite frankly, we have lost some standing as an organization. When you have three losing years in a row as we have, you face a lot of criticism. A lot of it is deserved. It’s up to us now to turn that around and get back to where I think we should be.”
They are not in an enviable position right now and after picking McAdoo and Shurmur, you have to wonder if the Giant brain trust can find the right guy for the job.
This franchise is at a crossroad.
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