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Pat Shurmur officially named New York Giants head coach

By The Sports Xchange
Former Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur walks the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California on December 2, 2012. File photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI
Former Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur walks the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California on December 2, 2012. File photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Last week Pat Shurmur emerged as the favorite to fill the New York Giants head coaching vacancy.

On Monday, the team officially hired Shurmur, who spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. Shurmur's and the Vikings' season came to an end with a 38-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

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This will be Shurmur's second chance at being a head coach. He was 9-23 as Cleveland's head coach in 2011-12 but was fired when new ownership took over. Shurmur also won the final game of the 2015 season after Chip Kelly was fired by the Eagles.

Shurmur was among six candidates to interview for the job after the Giants completed a 3-13 season. He is New York's third coach since Tom Coughlin's 12-year tenure ended following the 2015 season.

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Ben McAdoo won 11 games and reached the playoffs in his first season but was fired Dec. 4 when the Giants were 2-10 and a day after two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning saw his streak of 210 straight starts end. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo coached the final four games on an interim basis.

"We are pleased to welcome Pat to our organization and look forward to the leadership he will provide for our team," team president John Mara and team chairman Steve Tisch said in a statement. "He has an outstanding track record in developing young players, and it is clear his players respond to his guidance and direction. ... We feel like Pat, with his vision and experience, is the right person to lead our team."

Shurmur has been an NFL coach for 19 seasons and his teams have reached the playoffs nine times and won seven division titles. He advanced to Super Bowl XXXIX following the 2004 season with the Eagles as the quarterbacks coach under Andy Reid.

Shurmur worked for Reid from 1999 to 2008. He spent his first three seasons as the tight ends and offensive line coach before being elevated to quarterbacks coach in 2002.

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During his first stint with the Eagles, he helped Donovan McNabb become the most prolific passer in team history. In 2008, McNabb set a team record with 345 completions and 3,916 yards.

"I want to thank John Mara and Steve Tisch for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of the New York Giants," Shurmur said in a statement. "I am looking forward to getting to work with Dave Gettleman and Kevin Abrams and starting the process to once again build a championship team."

Shurmur emerged as the favorite after New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels interviewed with the Giants. Patricia will be named the new coach of the Detroit Lions while McDaniels is expected to be named head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

This season, the Vikings finished 10th in the league in scoring (23.9 points per game), 11th in total yards (356.9) and seventh in rushing yards (122.3). Minnesota also was third in the league in third-down conversion percentage at 43.5 percent (94-for-216).

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Before losing to the Eagles, Shurmur gained notoriety for his call of "Buffalo Right Seven Heaven", which resulted in wide receiver Stefon Diggs catching the game-ending 61-yard touchdown pass on the final play to give the Vikings a 29-24 win over the New Orleans Saints in an NFC divisional playoff game.

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