The decision for the New York Giants to fire Pat Shurmur, if the team owners decide to go that route, won’t be completely without controversy.
Sure, most of the fans are over Shurmur after lackluster coaching has taken the Giants out of a number of games and caused blown leads in others, and little improvement between seasons for a roster which was supposed to get better with new additions being brought on in the offseason, but the players haven’t quite turned on Shurmur.
Not yet, anyway. Neither Daniel Jones or Saquon Barkley want to see Shurmur shown the door just yet, at least – two of the most notable voices for the Giants right now thanks to their status as the team’s top offensive players.
“I think he’s a great coach. How he’s coached me has been very important for my development, so I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work with him,” Jones told reporters. “I’ve really enjoyed working with coach Shurmur and I think he’s done a whole lot for my development and my growth. He’s been great for me.”
But for anyone thinking that this might play into whether or not the Giants should keep Shurmur or not, it’s worth looking into the circumstances around the Giants firing their last coach, also.
Having players come out and defend a coach says more about the coach’s locker room popularity than it does about their actual skill on the field. Because while Shurmur’s predecessor, Ben McAdoo, also had defenders in the locker room when there was plenty of negativity around him, his actual coaching was just as bad as what we’re seeing right now, or worse.
And yet, when there were anonymous complaints, the locker room stood up and defended their coach.
McAdoo still ended up losing the locker room that very season and was fired, bringing about the Shurmur era. Is that to say that the Giants should disregard their players and not take their wishes into account when making a decision on whether or not to fire Shurmur after the season?
No, but the difference between coaching skill and coach popularity has to be recognized.
Sure, Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones don’t want to see Shurmur fired. But that’s one of the main reasons why players are paid to play and executives are paid to make decisions from the top – sometimes, the right decisions are tough ones, and need to be made even when they aren’t popular with every star.