Being sacked as head coach by the New York Giants was not the end of the line for Pat Shurmur.
He’s bounced right back, this time as Offensive Co-ordinator for the Denver Broncos.
His appointment after two seasons in charge of the Giants was confirmed on Tuesday by Broncos head coach Vic Fangio.
“Pat is an established play-caller,” said Fangio. ‘He has significant experience leading an offense, both as a co-ordinator and as a head coach.
“I’ve coached against Pat for a number of years and he’s always impressed me. His track record of developing younger players is also outstanding.
“Pat brings a collaborative approach to working with the staff as well as a flexibility to adjust the offense to our players and opponents. We’re excited to add someone of his calibre to our coaching staff.”
The Broncos will be Shurmur’s fourth stop as an NFL offensive coordinator. It follows stints at St. Louis, Philadelphia and Minnesota. He called the plays for the Rams and Vikings and had two-year spells as a head coach with Cleveland and the Giants. He has a 43-79 record as an NFL play-caller.
Shurmur has 3-2 edge on Fangio
As competing play-callers, Shurmur holds a 3-2 edge over Fangio. All three of Shurmur’s wins (38-10, 20-17 and 23-10) came when he was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2016-17. Fangio’s two wins came in 2011 (San Francisco 20-10 over St. Louis) and 2016 (Chicago 20-10 over Minnesota).
Shurmur took over the reins of the Giants in 2018 when its offense ranked 17th in yards (355.1) and 16th in points (23.1).
Under his stewardship the Giants scored 123 more points than they had in 2017. Quarterback Eli Manning set a career high with a 63.1% completion rate. Also rookie running back Saquon Barkley made the Pro Bowl.
This past season, however, the Giants slipped to 18th in points (21.3) and 23rd in yards (338.5). After a 0-2 start, Shurmur made the bold move to bench Manning.
He called in Jones, the sixth overall pick.
Jones had 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 starts but it didn’t help. The Giants finished 4th from the bottom of the NFL with a 2-14 record.
OFFICIAL: We’ve named Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator.
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— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) 14 January 2020