Pat Shurmur likes his staff, but unsure if they'll all return

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur takes questions from the media at the team's practice facility on Monday. Credit: Errol Anderson
Pat Shurmur will be back for 2019. Will his coaching staff? “You can never say that,” he said. “Some guys leave for whatever reasons, but again, that’s part of the process that we’ll go through. We’ll meet as coaches and try to find ways to get better.”
In some of those cases, it will mean saying goodbye to assistants. In others, it might be the assistants who depart for other opportunities.
One such situation might be defensive coordinator James Bettcher, who has familiarity and a strong relationship with the Cardinals. The Giants’ defense was far from impressive this season, but with the head- coaching job open in Arizona, he might be a candidate.
In that case, the Cardinals would have to request permission from the Giants. Shurmur said the team will grant or deny those requests on an “individual basis.”
“I’m all for guys advancing, I really don’t want to stand in anyone’s way, and I’ll have some opinions as to whether it’s advancement or not,” he said. “But listen, I had ambition as a young coach. You gain experience and want to move forward. I don’t want to stand in anyone’s way. I think as long as I replace that guy with a career coach that’s open-minded, understands the importance of relationships and can work together with the staff, we’ll make it work.”
Shurmur’s staff in 2018 was brought together like a pickup basketball game. The only coach on the team with whom Shurmur previously had worked was linebackers coach Bill McGovern.
“I purposely didn’t hire some of my friends who are now no longer my friends,” Shurmur said, perhaps half-joking, “but I’m really pleased [with the staff]. And again, we can all grow, there’s things that we can all do better, but I’ve got a bunch of guys here that I’m looking forward to moving forward with.”
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