To say that the Giants’ head coaching position has been a turnstile the past few years would be an understatement. Since 2015 the Giants have had four different head coaches, each one of them lasting only two seasons. There were of course the absolute highs and extreme lows of Ben McAdoo. The embarrassment that was Joe Judge. Finally, the success that Brian Daboll has had in his short time.
However, lost in this carousel was the tenure of Pat Shurmur. Shurmur was hired back in 2018, right after all the drama with Ben McAdoo occurred. The drama was the dreadful start to the season, coupled with the horrific handling of benching Eli Manning. Shurmur was supposed to come in and try to bring the Giants back to the playoffs. Show that the 2017 season was a fluke and this was still a very good team. Unfortunately for Shurmur, he was only able to win nine games within his two seasons as head coach and was fired at the end of the 2019 season. However now that we’re a few years removed, let’s revisit the Pat Shurmur era in New York.
Why Was Shurmur Fired?
Embed from Getty ImagesAs mentioned before the biggest reason why Shurmur was fired due to his poor record. In two seasons as Giants head coach, he had a record of 9-23. Which is bad to begin with, but even worse when you consider that Shurmur was brought in for this team to compete. However even though this is the main reason why Shurmur was fired, there were several other factors that led to him losing his job.
Pat Shurmur was brought in to be an offensive-minded head coach. He was supposed to fix the problems this offense had been experiencing the season before under Ben McAdoo. There were also signs of improvement in the final eight games of the 2018 season. They averaged 26.4 points with 367 yards. There was an expectation that the success of the final few games would continue into the next season. However, in 2019 the Giants offense only averaged 21.3 points per game and 338.5 yards. A massive step back from what was expected.
Finally, the Giants front office felt that Shurmur wasn’t doing enough to help develop the talent on the roster. There was an expectation that there would be a noticeable improvement in the roster going from year one to year two. There just wasn’t. At best the team was playing the same as they were the year prior. Plus as mentioned before there was even regression in some aspects of the roster. Once all these factors are put together, you begin to understand why the Giants fired Shurmur in the first place.
Did Shurmur Deserve to be Fired?
Embed from Getty ImagesWe have listed out the reasons why the Giants felt it was time to move on from Shurmur. However, were these reasons good enough to get fired? Sure without context they all seem like solid reasons for someone to lose their job. However, once you bring in some context to those reasons, it becomes less obvious that Shurmur should be fired.
The Record
To begin with, let’s look at the 9-23 record. Sure on paper that doesn’t look great. That is back-to-back losing seasons. But if you look at the individual results, you see that Shurmur had a lot of bad luck during his Giants tenure. In one-possession games, the Giant’s record was 6-13 under Shurmur. Meaning that although they lost, the Giants were competitive. They just either had bad luck, or a play or two didn’t go their way, that caused them to lose. Sure the coach takes some of the blame, but not all of it. Not enough for you to point to the record as the reason he was fired. Because there’s a chance if a few plays go differently he could add 13 more wins to his record.
Poor Offensive Play
Sure the record doesn’t reflect how the players played, but what about the regression we saw in the offense from 2018 to 2019? Well, the blame for that goes more on Dave Gettleman than Shurmur. Why you may ask. Well, in between those two seasons, Gettleman traded the Giants’ best offensive weapon in Odell Beckham Jr. You can feel however you want about Beckham’s off-field antics. However, there is no doubt that he’s one of the most talented receivers in the league. Especially back in 2018. Losing a player of Beckham’s caliber is very hard. It’s also very hard to find someone who can step up and be as productive as Beckham was. Shurmur was basically forced to re-invent his offense, without Beckham.
There is also the fact that the Giants were starting a rookie Daniel Jones for the majority of the season. It’s hard to judge an offense when they have a rookie at quarterback. Most of the time a rookie quarterback is trying to learn the offense, get used to NFL life, etc. There’s a lot to go in, and it’s not uncommon for them to struggle. When you have a quarterback struggling, then the rest of the offense is going to struggle. If a rookie quarterback isn’t enough, when Jones wasn’t starting, a washed-up Eli Manning was starting. Not exactly great options at the quarterback position.
The Verdict
Embed from Getty ImagesWas Shurmur the perfect head coach, no. Just like every other head coach in the NFL, he had his flaws. However, based on everything that has been laid out, did he deserve to be fired after the 2019 season, absolutely not. At the very least he should’ve been given another season to prove himself. He was put into an impossible spot in 2019. How are you supposed to be a competitive team, when you just lost your most explosive player on offense, and trying to get a rookie quarterback up to speed? Very few can do something like that in one year.
Sure the 2019 season didn’t look great for the Giants, however under Shurmur who knows how the 2020 season goes? Despite the fumbling issues Jones was showing flashes of being a franchise quarterback. Before last season, his rookie year was the best year of his career. Another year in that system who knows what progress Jones might make. Plus the locker room loved Shurmur. He never lost it despite all the losses. They played hard for him and wanted to win with him. In a weak NFC East in 2020, that could be enough to help the Giants win the division. Plus the Giants never hire Joe Judge. Music to every Giants fan’s ears.
Of course, we’ll never know exactly what would have happened had Shurmur not been fired. But hopefully, we can look at the Shurmur era as a cautionary tale of how to not handle an NFL head coach.
Thanks for reading! Credit for my feature image goes to Sarah Stier. You can find more NFL content at Belly Up Sports, and follow me on Twitter.
