New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur is a dead man walking, and following a 23-17 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, even he sounded like someone resigned to what’s to come.
“Yeah, I do,” Shurmur said when asked if he expects to finish out the season. “But I just have to wait and see. You have a lot of tough ones for me today.”
Shurmur has been given every opportunity to save his job, but he’s been unable to take advantage of it and with less than three weeks remaining this season, expectations around the league are that Shurmur will be fired on Black Monday.
And general manager Dave Gettleman? Yeah, he might be in some trouble, too.
Expectations around the league are that Shurmur won’t survive this mess and GM Dave Gettleman is also in trouble.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) December 10, 2019
None of this will come as any sort of surprised given that the Giants are currently mired in a nine-game losing streak, have failed to win a game in October and November (and now December) for the first time in franchise history and are staring down the barrel at the league’s worst record (Cincinnati is one-game worse). However, some may wonder if another complete rebuild is the answer.
Consistency is essential in the NFL and teams that lack it are often the ones that find themselves in a vicious repeating cycle. The Giants may now become one of those teams as Shurmur’s termination would usher in the fifth different coach in New York since 2013 — Tom Coughlin, Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo, Pat Shurmur and whoever comes next.
It will also mean an entirely new coaching staff for the Giants, a potential change in systems yet again, a potential disagreement over the quarterback position and a complete reset on the learning curve for players.
And should Gettleman also be canned, the Giants will be looking at their third general manager in a three-year span.
Yikes.
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