Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Pat Shurmur was fired Monday after two seasons as head coach of the New York Giants.

General manager Dave Gettleman indicated a move could be coming on Sunday in the aftermath of the Giants’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and informed a fleet of reporters he would provide additional details on Tuesday.

The Giants announced Gettleman would remain as GM.

“Steve (Tisch) and I have had many extensive discussions about the state of the Giants,” co-owner John Mara said Monday. “This morning, we made the very difficult decision that it would be in the best interest of the franchise that we relieve Pat of his duties. The last three seasons have been extremely disappointing for the organization and our fans. Pat has been a successful and highly-respected NFL coach for 21 years and he is not solely responsible for our record. But we came to the conclusion it is best to have a fresh start with the coaching staff.

“We very much appreciate how much Pat has done for this franchise. He is a man of character and integrity and the team has conducted itself with pride and professionalism. As owners, we take full responsibility for our recent poor record. It is our goal to consistently deliver high-quality football and we will do everything in our power to see that there is a rapid and substantial turnaround.”

Shurmur was 9-23 in two seasons and went 4-12 in 2019 as the Giants ushered in a new era at quarterback, replacing Eli Manning with rookie first-round pick Daniel Jones. He said Sunday he understood the NFL is a “wins business” but said there is no doubt the Giants were better now than when he arrived.

“You need to have a quarterback, you need to be able to play defense, you need to run the ball,” Shurmur said Sunday. “On defense, you need to have impact players that when the game is on the line, can do things. We have some strung throughout this roster and we’ll have a chance to go get more. I think that’s exciting.”

Last offseason signaled a major shift in the organization. Safety Landon Collins was allowed to walk in free agency before Gettleman traded wide receiver Odell Beckham and defensive end Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns.

“Dave Gettleman is our general manager in 2020 and hopefully for many years after that,” Mara said Monday. “We believe he is the right person to lead us going forward. Dave has a long record of success. We think he’s capable of putting a great team together and he’s going to get that opportunity. To the extent we need to make changes in personnel or the way we do things, we’re going to discuss that.”

Shurmur was hired as head coach after a successful stint as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, replacing Ben McAdoo.

Shurmur did show a golden touch with Jones, who impressed in training camp and drew raves from teammates almost instantly after being installed as the team’s starter over Manning.

Jones finished with 24 touchdowns and 23 interceptions and returns along with running back Saquon Barkley to form a strong foundation offensively for the next coach in New York.

The Giants were hit hard by injuries and started 10 rookies in at least one game in 2019.

–Field Level Media