BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Pat Shurmur does not need a formal introduction, as he knows Duce Staley quite well from their time together with the Eagles. Heck, Shurmur coached Staley as a player and then coached alongside him on Andy Reid’s staff. If Shurmur wants a fresh recommendation, though, he should ask Doug Pederson.
The Eagles’ head coach, three days before taking his team into Super Bowl LII against the favored Patriots, waxed poetic about Staley, the running backs coach in Philadelphia. Staley is considered a strong candidate for Shurmur to target as the Giants’ offensive coordinator, a hiring that could not happen until after the Super Bowl.
“He’s done a great job,’’ Pederson said. “Like me, he leans on his experience as a player to be able to coach and teach, because he’s been there, done that. The running back coach position, it takes a special coach. I don’t think just anybody can do that. You got to have a presence about yourself, you got to have a way about yourself, you have to be able to communicate with different personalities in that room. In our case, we got a couple of starters in that room and he’s been able to really shape them and mold them and get them to buy into what we’re doing offensively. Each one has a role. He does a great job with that.”
Staley, 42, spent 10 years in the NFL as a hard-charging running back and began his coaching career with the Eagles in 2011. Using a running back by committee, the Eagles averaged 132.2 rushing yards per game, using LeGarrette Blount and incorporating Jay Ajayi, rookie Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner. Staley got the most out of a crowded backfield.
“He knows when to be hard on ’em, they all take coaching extremely well,’’ Pederson said. “He’s smart, he understands not only runs, the run fits, the lanes, he also understands protection and that’s something, when you have young guys with Corey and Wendell and teach them all of our schemes, he was able to dissect so they could understand it. He’s been a big asset to that room.’’
In time, he could be an asset to the Giants’ room, if Shurmur makes the call.