If you want to be the head coach of the New York Giants, that will be the extent of your job. Some great football minds have walked out the door and shied away from East Rutherford because they wanted full control.
That is ultimately what led the Giants to choose Pat Shurmur over Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for their head coaching position after the 2017 season.
Schwartz was the defensive mastermind behind the Eagles’ Super Bowl run that led to Philly’s first NFL championship since 1960. He was in the mix for the Giants’ head coaching job, but there was that one catch that kept him from getting it.
He wanted more of a say in the choosing of personnel, and when it comes to the Giants, coaches don’t have much equity in the process. They never have.
That’s what ultimately led to Bill Parcells’ departure in 1991 when he clashed with then-general manager George Young. Parcells had other reasons for leaving, but ultimately it was over control, an issue he had in several of his next few destinations as well.
“If they want to cook the dinner, they should at least let you shop for the groceries,” Parcells would go on to say after he left New England as head coach in 1997.
Under (Schwartz’s) operation, the Eagles’ defense has ranked 4th, 5th, 15th and, in 2019 thus far, 9th in defensive DVOA, according to Football Outsiders.
Ultimately, though, there was at least one sticking point for any potential Giants-Schwartz marriage — control.
Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, Schwartz told the Giants that he required “personnel authority” if he was going to be their coach.
That is not going to happen, especially as long as Dave Gettleman is in the house. The Giants have maintained the traditional GM/coach organizational structure they’ve been using since Young was hired to straighten out the franchise in 1979.
Shurmur was chosen as the coach because he does not have as much of a desire to dabble in the scouting and personnel end of the business, although he claims he is a part of many of the decisions.
Shurmur has been doing a lot of the legwork for Gettleman, who has had health issues. Shurmur has been very visible at rookie pro days and other workouts and has been joined by a consortium of Giants’ scouts as well as Chris Mara, senior vice president of player personnel.
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