Five of the 49ers’ opponents next season are going to have new coaches. Oddly enough, the games against all five will be played at Levi’s Stadium.
Bears, Lions, Raiders, Cardinals and Giants went through – or are going through – overhauls of their coaching staffs. Two of those teams made their new hires official on Monday.
The Giants hired Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who was allowed to take a new job after Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs Sunday with the blowout loss to the Eagles in the NFC title game.
The Cardinals tapped Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to replace Bruce Arians, who retired after Arizona’s 8-8 finish to the season. Arians, held the post for five seasons.
In Shurmur, the Giants are getting a respected offensive mind with head coaching experience. He helped Case Keenum guide the Vikings to the second seed in the NFC even without promising rookie running back Dalvin Cook, who was lost in early October with an ACL tear.
Minnesota finished 10th in scoring and 11th in yardage after projected starter Sam Bradford had another knee surgery in November. Shurmur spent 2011 and 2012 as the head coach in Cleveland, going 4-12 and 5-11 in those seasons, which isn’t looking all that bad given the Browns have gone 1-31 the last two years.
Wilks has presided over one of the league’s most consistent defenses. His background is as a secondary coach, which appears to be good news to Cardinals star cornerback Patrick Peterson.
The big question facing both Wilks and Shurmer is their uncertain quarterback situations. Shurmer is being brought in to presumably help develop the next franchise quarterback after Eli Manning. Wilks will have zero quarterbacks under contract for next season with the retirement of Carson Palmer.
Former 49er Blaine Gabbert and long-time backup Drew Stanton combined to start the nine games Palmer missed when he went down with a fractured left arm in October, and both are free agents. The Cardinals will likely be players in free agency or the trade market for a veteran, like Alex Smith or Kirk Cousins, should they become available. Wilks’ new offensive coordinator will be a crucial hire.
The Bears earlier this month made their hiring of Chiefs coordinator Matt Nagy official. The Lions are expected to hire Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, but can’t until after the Super Bowl. The Raiders, of course, re-hired Jon Gruden.
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