Soon enough, Pat Shurmur will inherit a team that was so bad in 2017 that the coach was fired with four games remaining in a truly sorry season. On Tuesday, when Shurmur is officially named head coach of the Giants, the clock starts ticking, as he is tasked with turning around a franchise that bottomed out with the most losses (13) in a season in its 92-year history.
And so, Shurmur has no time to waste. He was in Minnesota on Monday, picking up the pieces after the Vikings were routed 38-7 by the Eagles in an NFC Championship blowout in Philadelphia. Shurmur will complete what figures to be somber exit assignments as the Vikings offensive coordinator and then make his way to New Jersey, where he will meet with Giants officials Tuesday morning to finish up the details of a contract that will make him the team’s 18th head coach. An introductory press conference is expected later that day.
Then, Shurmur gets to work. He will head to Mobile, Ala., to attend Senior Bowl practices, getting a look at prospects for the 2018 draft. Dave Gettleman, the new general manager, also will be in Mobile and he and Shurmur, for the first time, will put their heads together to try to come up with a plan to improve the talent on the Giants roster.
The two quarterbacks rated at the top of this draft, Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, are not seniors and will not be at the Senior Bowl. Two other quarterbacks who have garnered a great deal of attention, Josh Allen of Wyoming and Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, will be in Mobile. The Giants own the No. 2 pick in the draft and are in the process of evaluating all the quarterbacks in this class in order to determine if the time is right to find Eli Manning’s successor.
The Giants scouts will be in Mobile, as will coaches from around the NFL whose job statuses are in flux. Shurmur needs to assemble a staff and no doubt will be able to network with prospective candidates while he is at the Senior Bowl.