NFL Rumors: Pat Shurmur being discussed internally for Redskins offensive coordinator position

The Washington Redskins still haven’t decided on their offensive coordinator for 2020. And now, it appears that Pat Shurmur could be in the mix.

After Ron Rivera was hired by the Redskins, there was some buzz that he would retain offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. Up to this point, that hasn’t happened.

While O’Connell is still in the mix for the coordinator position, Rivera is doing some due diligence as he decides on his finalized staff. He interviewed Scott Turner, his former offensive coordinator with the Panthers, at the end of last week and now, another name of intrigue has popped up.

According to Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan, the Redskins are having internal discussions about former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur for the offensive coordinator job.

While Shurmur’s name may not excite Redskins fans at first due to two failed coaching stints with the Giants and the Cleveland Browns, he could be a quality coordinator for the Redskins.

At the NFL level, there are simply some coaches who are best served to be coordinators. While Shurmur has proven to be a low-level head coach, he works very well with quarterbacks and has led some great offenses as a coordinator in the past decade.

Shurmur served as Chip Kelly’s offensive coordinator with the Eagles for three seasons and helped lead the team to two top-five offenses and another top-12 unit. Nick Foles had the best season of his career working with Shurmur in 2013 as he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and logged 27 TDs and just two interceptions as a starter.

After three years with the Eagles, Shurmur joined the Minnesota Vikings staff as offensive coordinator. His first season with the Vikings saw the offense struggle without Adrian Peterson but in year two, Shurmur brought the offense to the top-10. Case Keenum was his quarterback and had his best season ever, completing 67 percent of his passes for 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while helping lead the team to the NFC Championship game.

The performances of those two quarterbacks will surely help Shumur’s candidacy. And with the Redskins, the main goal for Shurmur would be to help develop Dwayne Haskins. Given his success in getting the most out of his quarterbacks, Haskins could stand to benefit from Shurmur as he continues to grow as a quarterback.

We’ll see if Shurmur ends up being a legitimate candidate for the Redskins. For now, these are just rumors, but interviewing him would make sense as Rivera tries to take stock of his potential coordinator options.