With Detroit likely to poach Patricia, Vikes’ coordinator now Giants’ fave over McDaniels
More and more, it looks as if the Giants will target and try to make Pat Shurmur their next head coach.
They cannot do anything immediately, at least not officially, as the Vikings, Sunday night in stunning and historic fashion, shocked the Saints 29-24 with a remarkable walk-off touchdown in an NFC divisional playoff clas- sic in Minneapolis. That means Shurmur, the Vikings offensive coordinator, is not available for a second interview with the Giants until after the NFC Championship game — and possibly not until the Super Bowl bye week starting Jan. 29, if the Vikings beat the Eagles.
Shurmur, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels were the top three choices for the Giants. Patricia is no longer on the market, as he “is likely’’ to become the head coach of the Lions, according to an ESPN report Sunday morning. The Lions have reportedly told all other candidates their job is no longer open.
The Giants always liked Patricia and always suspected the Lions were his first choice, which is why labeling him as the favorite to replace Ben McAdoo was never accurate.
McDaniels is the favorite to land in Indianapolis with the Colts, a scenario the Giants also anticipated.
Patricia to Detroit is hardly unexpected, considering the Lions and Patricia have been linked for nearly two weeks, with the presence of Bob Quinn as the general manager in Detroit always looming large. Quinn was a Patriots personnel executive for nearly all of Patricia’s 14 years in New England.
That leaves Shurmur, and if the Giants are sold on him — it is believed they are — they need to make a move for him now, not later, even though a deal cannot be negotiated or a contract finalized until after the Vikings are done playing. Ideally, the Giants wanted to bring their top choice in for a second interview, but that cannot happen now. Shur-
mur is also a finalist for the Cardinals head-coach vacancy and the Giants are expected to move quickly, as they do not want to miss out on all of their top three candidates. Treading the line on tampering but not crossing it, the Giants can make it known to Shurmur’s camp that he is their guy and a tacit agreement can be arranged.
If it turns out Shurmur and McDaniels go elsewhere, the Gi- ants will double-back and consider Steve Wilks, the Panthers defensive coordinator, who was one of the six candidates to interview for the Giants’ job. The Giants could also reach out to Jim Schwartz, the Eagles defensive coordinator, or Mike Munchak, the Steelers offensive line coach.
The Giants contingent of coowner John Mara, general manager Dave Gettleman and assis- tant general manager Kevin Abrams on Jan. 6 met with Shurmur in Bloomington, Minn. Shurmur, 52, checks off several boxes, as he is a former NFL head coach (with the Browns in 2011 and 2012) and is a longtime NFL coordinator — two lines Mara wanted to see on the résumé for the next head coach.
A Giants source describes Shurmur as “solid.’’ In his 19year NFL coaching career, he has been with teams that have qualified for the playoffs nine times and made one Super Bowl, with the Eagles following the 2004 season. Shurmur’s work in Minnesota opened the eyes of the Giants, as journeyman quarterback Case Keenum flourished under Shurmur’s tutelage, blossoming into an MVP candidate. The Giants are not scared off by reports Shurmur is adamant about bringing Keenum, an im- pending free agent, with him, not believing those reports to be accurate.
As for McDaniels, he is technically off-limits. Patricia, McDaniels and the Patriots breezed past the Titans 35-14 in Saturday night’s AFC divisional playoff game, meaning the Giants could not get another meeting with McDaniels until after the AFC Championship game, at the earliest.