Shurmur hiring puts Giants in favorable position entering Combine
Josh McDaniels
Tuesday morning  Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com and NFL Networkâs Good Morning Football reported that  New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels  would break routine and skip this weekâs annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis  avoiding the city McDaniels jilted when  he  backed out on a verbal agreement to become the Coltsâ next head coach on Feb. 6  leaving many of  his  assistants in the lurch  too.
And the McDaniels news was a reminder that while itâs too early to judge Pat Shurmur as a head coach  the Giantsâ hiring of  him  certainly feels as if itâs put them in the strongest and most stable position they could have hoped for to operate at this Combine â and in free agency and in Aprilâs draft â especially considering the alternatives.
Imagine if the Giants had chosen  McDaniels  to be their next head coach and  McDaniels  had backed out on the Giants on Feb. 6  as he did the Colts. The Giants wouldnât have hired their next coach until two weeks ago at best  as the Colts did by pivoting to Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich. And the Giants in that scenario probably wouldnât have their full coaching staff together yet still  and theyâd be arriving at the Combine still in transition mode.
Perhaps most importantly  a negative perception of the Giantsâ operations may have lingered if  McDaniels  had reversed course on them. Fairly or unfairly  that would have had people connecting the turmoil of 2017 to an ominous and bad start to 2018  continuing to question the Giantsâ judgment for trying to hire someone who wasnât even ready.
Josh McDaniels. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Tuesday morning  Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com and NFL Networkâs Good Morning Football reported that  New England Patriots offensive coordinator  [TGT]   would break routine and skip this weekâs annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis  avoiding the city McDaniels jilted when  he  backed out on a verbal agreement to become the Coltsâ next head coach on Feb. 6  leaving many of  his  assistants in the lurch  too.
And the McDaniels news was a reminder that while itâs too early to judge Pat Shurmur as a head coach  the Giantsâ hiring of  him  certainly feels as if itâs put them in the strongest and most stable position they could have hoped for to operate at this Combine â and in free agency and in Aprilâs draft â especially considering the alternatives.
Imagine if the Giants had chosen  McDaniels  to be their next head coach and  McDaniels  had backed out on the Giants on Feb. 6  as he did the Colts. The Giants wouldnât have hired their next coach until two weeks ago at best  as the Colts did by pivoting to Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich. And the Giants in that scenario probably wouldnât have their full coaching staff together yet still  and theyâd be arriving at the Combine still in transition mode.
Perhaps most importantly  a negative perception of the Giantsâ operations may have lingered if  McDaniels  had reversed course on them. Fairly or unfairly  that would have had people connecting the turmoil of 2017 to an ominous and bad start to 2018  continuing to question the Giantsâ judgment for trying to hire someone who wasnât even ready.
 [TGT] . (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)