THE NEW YORK Giants are expected to hire Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as head coach after firing Ben McAdoo, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Shurmur cannot negotiate or sign with the Giants until his current team are either eliminated from the playoffs or win the Super Bowl, with the Vikings set to visit the Giants’ NFC East rivals the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly next week following their astonishing walk-off victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.
The 52-year-old has worked wonders in Minnesota since taking over from Norv Turner in the middle of last season, forging a top-10 offense even with the previously written-off Case Keenum at quarterback.
Shurmur was also credited with the albeit brief resurgence of Sam Bradford under centre during the Vikings’ last campaign.
During the 2017 regular season, Keenum and the Vikings offence posted a top-10 rating in points per game (10th, 23.9), rushing yards per game (seventh, 122.3) and third-down conversion rate (third, 43.5). Minnesota finished 11th in passing yards per game with 234.6.
Key to the Vikings’ success has been the emergence of unheralded players such as wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Should he accept an offer as expected, Surmur will enter a Giants franchise who finished the season an appalling 3-13 – a historically bad innings for the four-time Super Bowl winners – but won’t be without a plethora of assets.
Should Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall recover from season-ending injuries which exacerbated an already doomed season under Ben McAdoo, Shurmur will be expected to cultivate a dangerous Big Blue offense where his predecessor famously struggled.
The former has already declared himself ‘geeked’ [excited] by Rapoport’s prediction that Shurmur will take the helm at MetLife Stadium from next season.
God really works in mysterious ways....let the journey begin.... I’m geeeked https://t.co/3tbOTPcSl1
— Odell Beckham Jr (@OBJ_3) January 15, 2018
