The New York Giants were not relaxing during the holiday season.
As they were putting the finishing touches on their worst season since 1983 which led to the firings of head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese, the Giants have gone to work on bringing about a fresh start.
They already addressed their general manager vacancy, hiring former front office member and Carolina Panthers GM Dave Gettleman on Dec. 29.
He has wasted little time making changes to the team, cutting right tackle Bobby Hart and firing VP of player operations Marc Ross before their Week 17 win over the Washington Redskins.
Now comes the hiring of a head coach, a position that is one of the most coveted in football despite New York’s 3-13 showing in 2017.
Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is expected to interview for the Giants head coaching position sometime this week. On New Year’s Day, the Giants also requested to interview New England Patriots offensive and defensive coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia.
Conflicting reports state that all three are favorites for the job. ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed on Sunday that Schwartz was the favorite for the job. But the New York Daily News reported the night before that McDaniels and Patricia are options “1 and 1A.”
Gettelman also reached out to his former team on Monday to request an interview with Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
Tuesday has provided two new names to add to New York’s list of potential candidates. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported that Eric Studesville will be interviewed on Friday.
The 50-year-old was fired by the Denver Broncos as their running backs coach, a position he held since 2010 besides a brief hiatus as interim head coach in the final four games of his first season with the team. Studesville has previous experience with the Giants, working as their running backs coach from 2001-2003 under then-head coach Jim Fassel.
Jordan Raanan of ESPN reported later on Tuesday afternoon that the Giants have submitted a request to interview Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Shurmur has helped develop Case Keenum from fringe backup into a solid starting quarterback this season as the Vikings are the No. 2 seed in the NFC after a 13-3 season. Shurmur previously coached the Cleveland Browns for two seasons, compiling a 9-23 record.
