DUCE JUICE
Stefanski may be fave, but Staley is right pick
THE best coaching staffs knit together so neatly there are no seams showing. The best staffs are a smooth swatch, a blend of personalities where intellect and intensity come at the players from different directions, where age, youth, varied degrees of experience and diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds mesh together for blanket coverage to all who enter the locker room.
Pat Shurmur is putting the finishing touches on his first Giants coaching staff. He needs an offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach. Here is a suggestion: Name Duce Staley the offensive coordinator. It will weaken the Super Bowl champion Eagles and, more importantly, provide a perfect yin and yang, adding some fire to Shurmur’s ice, injecting some street cred into not only the offensive meeting room, but Shurmur’s entire operation.
Staley is a rising star. The Giants should get in before he takes off.
“I can definitely see him being a coordinator or a head coach,’’ Eagles rookie running back Corey Clement, coming off a 100-yard receiving eruption in Super Bowl LII, told The Post. “Duce really carries that type of mindset that not many people really think like he does. The guy’s a genius. Definitely a genius.’’
Staley is in the mix for the Giants’ offensive coordinator job, although Kevin Stefanski, the Vikings quarterbacks coach, is considered the favorite. Thursday night, ESPN reported the Vikings are hiring Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo as their offensive coordinator, paving the way for Shurmur to bring in the 35-year old Stefanski, who could possibly fill a dual role as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
There is a connection for Shurmur with both Stefanski and Staley. Shurmur was the Eagles offensive coordinator from 2013-15 when Staley was the running backs coach. Staley last week told The Post that Shurmur will be “awesome’’ with the Giants.
“He’s very passionate and he’s driven by his job and those guys will follow him and they will fight to the death for him,’’ Staley said.
Stefanski could be a fine hire. Staley would be a more out-of-the-box hire.
With the Eagles, Staley is something of an institution. He was a hardcharging and extremely popular (it is hard to forget those “DUUUUUUUCE’’ chants) running back in Philly for seven years before winning a Super Bowl with the Steelers. For the past five years he’s shepherded the Eagles running backs, but he is so much more than that.
“He brings a lot to the table,’’ Eagles running back Kenjon Barner said. “He can relate to you more, he can understand what we’re doing as running backs a lot more than most coaches can because he’s been in our shoes. He sees things differently than a normal coach sees it because he’s played the game. Not only that, Duce brings intensity. He’s an extremely intense guy and can really get you going.’’
That Staley has never been a playcaller is irrelevant — Shurmur, as the head coach, will call the plays, making his offensive coordinator position something of a soft landing spot. At 42, Staley is 10 years younger than Shurmur and it is never a bad idea to bring a strong African-American presence into an NFL locker room.
“You’re gonna respect that dude, no doubt about it,’’ Barner said. “Duce is a guy any man playing this game of football would love to get behind and love to play for.’’
Seeing him leave for the rival Giants would be “bittersweet,’’ Barner admitted.
“But Duce deserves anything that comes his way,’’ he said. “You can’t take anything away from that man as far as his ability to coach, his ability to see things from an unorthodox way. If that does happen I’d be extremely happy for him and it will be well-deserved.’’
Staley told The Post he does not think he is ready to be an offensive coordinator.
“I know I am,’’ he said. Shurmur can make it a reality.