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A day after orchestrating one of the more unlikely plays in NFL history, Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is expected to accept an offer to become the next coach of the New York Giants. Multiple outlets reported Monday afternoon that Shurmur will accept the offer, making him the sixth straight Giants head coach since Bill Parcells departed the team in 1991 with an offensive background.
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Other than defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's four-game tenure on an interim basis, the Giants have hired coaches with offensive backgrounds since Parcells left.
The reports surfaced less than 24 hours after Stefon Diggs caught a 61-yard game-winning touchdown pass from Case Keenum on the final play to give Minnesota a 29-24 win over New Orleans in the NFC divisional game.
Shurmur, 52, was in contention to succeed the recently retired Bruce Arians as head coach for the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants also considered Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Patricia reportedly will take the head coaching job with the Detroit Lions while McDaniels will reportedly get the job with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Giants can't officially offer the job or hire Shurmur until the Vikings season comes to an end. Minnesota travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game at 6:40 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Shurmur won eight games in 2011-2012 with the Cleveland Browns and won the final game of the 2015 season for the Philadelphia Eagles after Chip Kelly was fired.
Shurmur, whose uncle Fritz was the defensive coordinator for five teams, was the tight ends coach for Minnesota before elevated to his current role when Norv Turner resigned in Nov. 2016.
He also was the Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach from 2002 to 2008 when Donovan McNabb became the most prolific passer in team history and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance in 2005 where they lost to New England.
Shurmur also was the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams in two seasons in 2009 and 2010 under Spagnuolo and helped Sam Bradford set NFL rookie records for completions in 2010.
In his second stint with the Eagles, the team set records for points, net yards, touchdowns and passing yards while winning the NFC East title in 2013. He oversaw Nick Foles' breakout season when the quarterback threw 27 passes to only two interceptions and a 119.2 quarterback rating.
This season, Keenum set career highs in completions (325), completion percentage (67.6), yards (3,547) and touchdowns (22) while playing in 15 games. He signed a one-year deal in March and took over when Bradford was injured.
The Giants fired Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese following a Week 13 loss at Oakland when Geno Smith started to Eli Manning. They finished 3-13 and hired Dave Gettleman to be the general manager on Dec. 29.
