Pat Shrmur was relieved of his duties as Giants head coach following two seasons with the organization.
Team president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch formally dismissed Shurmur on Monday morning, while retaining general manager Dave Gettleman. Mara said he wishes to see Gettleman as the team's general manager for "many years after (2020)" as the 68-year-old appears to have gained full trust from ownership.
Shurmur finished with 9 wins and 23 losses during his tenure. The Giants failed to reach the playoffs for their third consecutive year — second under Shurmur's lead — and Giants ownership opted to head in a different direction. WFAN's Evan Roberts said it was "obvious" that Shurmur was "not the right head coach" for the Giants, as Gettleman's job was deemed safe.
"The question was the general manager," Roberts said. "That's where things get murky. That's where the debate is because I look at his resume and I don't think it's an A-plus resume. I don't even think it's a B resume. But I see enough good things in the two years that he's been here to not say, 'I've got to fire him. I've got to blow it up and start over.' There's a lot of Giants fans who disagree with me, there's a lot that agree. I just didn't think that the resume was bad enough that after two years I needed to get rid of Dave Gettleman."
Gettleman was responsible for selecting Daniel Jones to be Eli Manning's replacement. He'd also found hidden treasures such as Darius Slayton and Kaden Smith, who'd struggled to gain attention around the league. The pair combined for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
"I've said it all along: Shurmur goes, Gettleman stays," Benigno added. "That's obviously what the case is. I think he's done enough good things. He found this quarterback nobody was too high on, that everybody got on him for picking with the sixth overall pick in the draft and the kid looks pretty good. You know, if he could just stop fumbling the football but he does look good. I think he has a tremendous upside ... I think there's enough to warrant Gettleman coming back. That's me."
Gettleman received his fair share of criticism since being named general manager in 2017. Many fans scratched their heads when the Giants picked Daniel Jones sixth overall or when Odell Beckham Jr. was dealt to Cleveland for Jabrill Peppers and two draft picks.
Roberts says Gettleman's emphasis on the future built a strong case for him to stick around.
"A lot of the decisions Dave Gettleman has made — some that we liked at the time, some that he hated at the time — a lot of them were made with a long-term vision," Roberts said. For example, trading Odell Beckham Jr. We can all get nuts about, 'Well, he said that he didn't sign him to trade him. He's a liar!' Who cares? ... When you decide to trade Odell Beckham Jr. less than a year ago, you're not doing that with a short-term vision of winning a Super Bowl right away. You're doing it with a long-term vision. You're doing it with an idea that this is better for my roster over the next five years, not this very next season.
"I think when you look at a general manager, it's a little different than a head coach. When you're looking at a general manager, you're looking at the long-term vision of things so when you look this roster today and you look at this roster two years ago — when he took over for the Jerry Reese failure — as yourself this question: Do you feel better about this young core than you did two years ago? The answer is yes."
Click the audio player above to listen to the open from Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts.
