The talented offensive play-caller was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the Associated Press during Saturday's NFL Honors ceremony.
Shurmur authored the NFL's second-ranked offense and helped turn journeyman quarterback Case Keenum into an uber-reliable starter who posted the NFL's highest-passer rating from Week 10 onward and the fifth-best rating in Vikings franchise history.
Shurmur served as a premier play-caller all season and successfully overcame the loss of both quarterback Sam Bradford and sensational rookie runner Dalvin Cook. Those injuries triggered the rise of Keenum along with admirable campaigns on the ground by Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon.
Seen league-wide as one of the game's top quarterback tutors, Shurmur also spent two seasons with Super Bowl starter Nick Foles in Philadelphia. For his next trick, the 52-year-old coach will be asked to resurrect a Giants offense that flat-lined this past season to finish with the second-worst record in the NFL.
Along with squeezing at least one more season out of veteran Eli Manning, Shurmur will be tasked with coaching one of the draft's top-flight quarterbacks, assuming the G-Men use the No. 2 overall pick on a signal-caller.
Shurmur's New York gig marks his second time around as a head coach after he flamed out in Cleveland after just two seasons in 2012. Coaching in New York comes packed with pressure, but Shurmur will be fine if he can rapidly flip the switch under center -- a quality he's become known for after this past season's magic.
