Head coach of the New York Giants, Pat Shurmur, won’t face the same reality Jets head coach, Adam Gase, is about to experience. An executive told Gase that if his team failed to overcome a winless Miami Dolphins team, he would be relieved of his duties. Coincidentally, the Jets plummeted to the bottom of the football world in a heartless loss, accompanied by another poor performance from Sam Darnold.
The Giants, on the other hand, are 2-7 on the season and have almost nothing to show for their injection of youth. Well, I would refrain from saying “nothing.” Providing rookie quarterback Daniel Jones with essential developmental experience holds value, and Shurmur has been at the forefront of his adaptation to the NFL.
Firing Shurmur might hurt Jones more than we imagine. While his time-management and poor decision making have cost the Giants several opportunities to win, the reality is, Big Blue isn’t a playoff-caliber team, and having a high draft pick might give them a better chance at winning in 2020.
The Giants are, by no means, tanking to move up in the draft, but Shurmur’s decision making has been detrimental at times. Rumors of him being on the hot-seat have bubbled to the surface, but owner John Mara must realize his team is in year two of a rebuild. In that same time-frame, the Cleveland Browns, who looked fantastic on paper, have been widdled down to a fraction of their potential. Head coach Freddie Kitchen might be in more trouble than Shurmur at this point.
Why wouldn’t the New York Giants fire Pat Shurmur?
Aside from Pat’s influence on Jones and vise-versa, changing the head coach would require an overhaul of the offense and coaching staff. It would theoretically set the team back another season as they learn a new system and could act as a repellant for quality veteran free agents. With an estimated $80 million in cap next year, the Giants have plenty of room to fill positions of weakness, notably at linebacker, free safety, and offensive tackle.
Plucking Shurmur from his position would likely hurt the team more than help it, which indicates he will be around for at least one more season.