Somewhere, Ben McAdoo is grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
On Monday, the New York Giants fired head coach Pat Shurmur after completing an abysmal 2019 campaign that included losses in 10 of the team’s final 12 games after opening the season 2-2.
The Giants will immediately begin searching for their third head coach since 2017. They are owners of the NFL’s worst record since then, going just 12-36.
McAdoo, who led the Giants to an 11-5 record and their most recent playoff appearance in 2016, went just 2-10 before he and general manager Jerry Reese were let go with four games remaining in ’17. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo took over as interim head coach but failed to win a game.
Shurmur’s record as Giants head coach was 9-23 (5-11 in 2018, 4-12 in 2019). He became the team’s first head coach since Ray Handley (1991-92) who failed to earn at least one postseason berth. His .292 winning percentage as a head coach (four seasons with the Giants and Cleveland Browns and one game as Philadelphia Eagles interim head coach) is the seventh lowest in NFL history.
“This is a wins business—I get it, I get it,” Shurmur said after the Giants’ season-ending 34-17 loss to the eventual NFC East champion Eagles. “We’ve been talking about (my job) for, I think, about six weeks. You’ve been asking me the same questions for six weeks. So, I don’t if I’m getting good at answering them, but I’m answering them a lot. But that’s the reality of this business. When you don’t win, that’s the line of questioning. Listen, I get that, I get that.”
The Giants have requested permission to speak with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
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McDaniels has primarily spent his career as a member of Bill Belichick’s staff including two separate tenures as offensive coordinator. He spent two seasons (2009-10) as Denver Broncos head coach, going 11-17. McDaniels will be in high demand after the Patriots’ season ends as the Browns and Carolina Panthers have also requested to permission to discuss their head coaching vacancies with him.
The Giants have also requested to permission to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
The Panthers are also interested in Bieniemy, a former NFL running back who played nine seasons for three teams. Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Colorado, before joining the Chiefs’ coaching staff.
Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach Kris Richard is scheduled to be interviewed on Thursday per a report from ESPN’s Josina Anderson. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was told by a team source former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy will be interviewed over the weekend. McCarthy spent 13 seasons with the Packers with a regular season record of 125-77-2. The Packers won six NFC North titles and made nine postseason appearances with a record of 10-8. Under McCarthy, the Packers made four appearances in the NFC Championship Game and won Super Bowl XLV.
Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has also emerged as an early favorite to succeed Shurmur. Rhule, who played linebacker for the late Joe Paterno at Penn State, was an offensive line coach with the Giants in 2012. Since then, he has built successful programs at both Temple and Baylor. The No. 8 ranked Bears were defeated 26-14 by No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl Wednesday.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
