Chicago Bears: Top 3 candidates for next offensive coordinator
By Ryan Heckman
3. Pat Shurmur, former head coach, New York Giants
The one that makes the most sense above all other candidates is Pat Shurmur. He is currently unemployed after being fired by the New York Giants, and will surely land on his feet very soon.
Shurmur has a history of doing a couple of things well, offensively. The first is that he has had a history of committing to the run game. First and foremost, that is what the Bears must do this offseason. There is no higher priority for the Bears than to re-commit to the run game and it starts up front — improving the offensive line.
Shurmur coached LeSean McCoy during a year in which he led the league in rushing with the Philadelphia Eagles. He also coached with the Minnesota Vikings prior to being in New York, and his philosophy in Minnesota was similar — it starts with hammering the run game. The Vikings averaged over 122 yards on the ground in 2017 under Shurmur, and that was after losing Dalvin Cook in Week 4.
Other than committing to the run, Shurmur has been part of offenses where a mediocre quarterback was lifted up. Both Nick Foles (PHI) and Case Keenum (MIN) are examples of mid-tier quarterbacks that had career years under Shurmur, and that’s attractive if you’re a team with a guy like Trubisky.
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He has the experience and has been around the league for a long time, and also spent time with Matt Nagy while in Philadelphia. There is a connection between he and Nagy, which makes him a likely candidate.