The Chicago Bears have been heavily rumored to have interest in former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur for their vacant offensive coordinator position. However, things haven't progressed much on that front. Why? There is some speculation that the coach wanted to wait a bit to see if other opportunities might come up. It turns out this is proving to be a wise decision on his part.
First, the Philadelphia Eagles fired their own offensive coordinator Mike Groh following a disappointing postseason loss to Seattle. Shurmur coached in Philadelphia previously from 2013 to 2015 with some considerable success. Combine this with his Andy Reid background, similar to head coach Doug Pederson? It's an easy sell. However, it seems that it is no longer the only alternative.
Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski has become the latest head coach in Cleveland. This vacates a job that Shurmur himself actually held just three years ago in 2017 before he was hired by the Giants. He knows their head coach Mike Zimmer well and the two had a lot of success together that year. Going back would make sense.
Pat Shurmur decision is likely about stability
In truth, Shurmur probably waited because he was hoping a job with a little more stability might open up. One look at the Bears and it's not hard to see that Matt Nagy and his staff aren't exactly on firm ground. They're coming off a 29th ranked finish to this past season and have lingering quarterback questions with Mitch Trubisky. If things flounder again in 2020, the entire staff could be fired. Shurmur would be out of a job after just one year.
Joining the Vikings or Eagles, both having made the playoffs and boasting much more proven quarterbacks in Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz is only logical at this point. It would take a serious recruiting pitch from Nagy to sell him on Chicago.
