The New York Giants have no plans to fire coach Pat Shurmur this year or at any point during the offseason, meaning that his job could be safe through 2020.
Of course, Giants ownership let similar information leak when it came to former coach Ben McAdoo, and we all know how that ended up playing out.
So while it’s unlikely the Giants move on from Shurmur over the next calendar year, there’s no denying he’s put himself firmly on the hot seat. Accordingly, we’re here to examine seven candidates who could eventually replace him.
Tom Coughlin
Yep. We’re starting out in controversial fashion, but let’s not pretend that forcing Coughlin to step down wasn’t the first in a long string of poor decisions that led these Giants to where they are today. The real question would be whether or not Coughlin would want to come back to New York. Or, at this point, whether he even desires a return to the sideline at all.
Bottom line: The Giants need an old-school disciplinarian leading the way because the whole player-friendly thing is clearly not working.
Josh McDaniels
There is a constant obsession with Bill Belichick’s coaching tree, and McDaniels has been on the Giants’ radar previously. However, there are rumors swirling that Belichick told both McDaniels and Matt Patricia to steer clear of the organization prior to their hiring of Shurmur, which would be damning for the Giants if true — especially considering Belichick’s strong feelings for the Mara family. On top of that, McDaniels has proved to be a little flaky and didn’t excel as a head coach in Denver.
Robert Saleh
A year ago, everyone in San Francisco wanted Saleh fired. Now that the 49ers sport one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL, however, the defensive coordinator is not only the talk of the town, but an early favorite to land a head coaching job in 2020. Do the Giants want a defensive-minded guy? They should, but their last two head coaching choices were heavy offensive guys, and with a young quarterback, that would seem to be the route the organization wants to stick to.
Kevin Stefanski
The Giants have had interest in Stefanski at other positions previously but were blocked from interviewing him two years ago. And now that he’s having such tremendous success running the offense in Minnesota, it’s likely Stefanski wants to take a step up. If the Giants were to fire Shurmur, that would create a scenario in which Big Blue could circle back at exactly the right time in Stefanski’s career. However, there is likely to be a lot of interest in his services.
Matt Rhule
Rhule has had success just about everywhere he has gone, and his time at Baylor has been no exception. With the school dealing with some very serious issues, he’s brought it back from the ashes. Not only that, Rhule has a familiarity with the Giants and team ownership, having served as their assistant offensive line coach in 2012. He’s generated head coaching interest in recent years and very nearly landed the Jets job prior to the hiring of Adam Gase.
John DeFilippo
One of the best potential candidates available for a team with a young quarterback, DeFilippo could be just what the doctor ordered for Daniel Jones. DeFilippo helped turn Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate and Nick Foles into a Super Bowl MVP. He’s also done wonders with rookie Gardner Minshew, but how would that all translate to being a head coach? As noted earlier, the Giants seem to trend toward quarterback-specific, offensive guys and that has not worked out well, so would they want to make a third attempt at the same style of coach?
Matt Eberflus
Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni is a name we’ve seen connected to the Giants a bit — another offensive guy with a mind for quarterbacks — but what about Eberflus instead? If the Giants decided to lean more toward a defensive coach, which is clearly needed, Eberflus is arguably the best candidate of the bunch. He’s strict, coordinated and respected. The one thing that may go against Eberflus is his overall lack of experience (just two seasons as an NFL coordinator).
