PHILADELPHIA — Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur flew home with the team after Sunday night’s loss in the NFC Championship Game, but he likely won’t be in Minnesota for long.
Sources say Shurmur will be named head coach of the New York Giants this week. It would be his second NFL coaching job after coaching the Cleveland Browns to a 9-23 record over two seasons, in 2011-12.
Shurmur’s likely final game with Minnesota did not go well. The Vikings lost 38-7 to Philadelphia, falling one win short of being the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium.
“There’s two teams moving on,” Shurmur said of the Eagles and New England, the Super Bowl LII teams on Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium. “For the rest of us, it becomes final, and that’s the feeling you have. We’re certainly disappointed that we lost. We feel we could have played better in a lot of ways.”
Shurmur, who first interviewed with the Giants on Jan. 6, is expected to have a second interview this week. Then he is in line to be named their coach.
“I don’t know,” Shurmur said of the process. “I haven’t even really checked my phone, so I don’t know what’s going on there.”
Shurmur hasn’t denied the open secret that he is heading to New York. He declined, though, to talk about what the move could mean for the Giants.
“There’s a time and a place for that,” Shurmur said.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said after Sunday’s game that Shurmur interviewing for four head coaching jobs and being earmarked last week to join the Giants was not a distraction during the playoffs.
ESPN reported Sunday that the leading candidate to become the Giants’ defensive coordinator is former Jacksonville and Oakland coach Jack Del Rio. Shurmur declined to say anything about his impending staff.
“I wouldn’t have any way to comment on that,” he said.
The Giants have won four Super Bowls, two by hall of fame coach Bill Parcells and two by Tom Coughlin. Parcells talked last week about the impending hiring of Shurmur.
“I don’t know Pat Shurmur,” Parcells said. “I know it’s one of the flagship franchises in the league. It’s a very prestigious job in the NFL. I hope he does well. I’m a Giants fan.”