New Giants coach Pat Shurmur derives strength from home
Pat Shurmur
Who  Pat Shurmur? No. No way Kyle learned that diligence from his dad who  as a sophomore offensive lineman and linebacker at Dearborn Divine Child (Mich.) in 1980  asked coach Wes Wishart to borrow the program’s lone projector to host weekly 16mm film study sessions at his house.
Like father  like son. And so like  Pat Shurmur  to have family at the center of one of  his  football stories.
 Pat Shurmur  makes it clear how much  his  family means to  him  as  he  meets the media for the first time as Giants head coach. (Howard Simmons/New York Daily News)
Friday morning  in fact  Shurmur teared up in his introductory press conference in East Rutherford as he looked at his wife  Jennifer  of 27-and-a-half years and called her “the strength of our family.” The couple  who met at Michigan State  have four children: Allyson and Erica  college graduates who live in Philadelphia; Kyle  Vanderbilt’s rising-senior starting quarterback; and Claire  a high school freshman in Minnesota  where  Pat  last worked.
But while  Pat  is the high-profile NFL head coach and the hard-nosed former Spartans center who laid waste to USC defensive linemen in the 1988 Rose Bowl  he is also the humble and human husband honorable enough to publicly recognize the woman who has been his rock the whole way:
“I didn’t know what G.O.A.T. meant until about a year ago  but that’s what Jennifer’s kids refer to her as: The G.O.A.T ” Gordon  still a family friend  said of the acronym for Greatest Of All Time more often used in NFL circles in reference to Tom Brady. “The Shurmurs are a great family. That’s what always comes through to people  and quite honestly  that’s probably what enables  Pat  to do what  he  does.”
Wishart says  Shurmur  came from a family with an admirable “work ethic” before  he  and Jennifer started their own.
 Pat Shurmur  is tasked with returning winning ways back to the Giants. (Howard Simmons/New York Daily News)
 Shurmur ’s late father  Joe  a star offensive guard and linebacker at Albion College (Mich.) in the late 1950s and early 60s  was an orthopedic surgeon in Dearborn  Mich.  and later served as the team doctor for  Pat ’s high school squad.
 Pat ’s uncle  the late Fritz Shurmur  actually coached his brother Joe at Albion before going on to a long accomplished NFL coaching career  including a Super Bowl XXXI victory as Mike Holmgren’s defensive coordinator in Green Bay.
But more simply  Joe and Barbara Shurmur raised their four children “to work hard and do things the right way ” Wishart says.  Pat Shurmur  on Friday lauded how  his  parents “taught us to compete; they taught us how to have compassion; and they taught us how not to let anybody tell you that you can’t do something.”
And when Wishart visited  Shurmur  in Cleveland for one of his Browns OTA practices during his two-year stint as head coach from 2011-12  he saw all of Joe and Barbara’s values and lessons on display on the field.
“He talked to every player  knew every player  had something positive to say about all of them  and he had 90-some guys on the roster ” Wishart recalled. “When he was a player  there was no better teammate. If a guy made a mistake   Pat  was the first to put arm around him and say hey it’s over with  forget about it. And that was it: if you have good relationships with people and players  you’ve got a team.
Carl Banks  55  the Giants’ two-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker and current radio analyst  was a stud Michigan State senior when  Shurmur  arrived in East Lansing as a freshman in 1983.  Shurmur  would split a season at linebacker and guard before starting three years at center and serving as a co-captain his senior year. What does Banks remember?
In 2013  when the Shurmurs relocated to Cinnaminson  N.J.  and  Kyle Shurmur  transferred to LaSalle   his  father could have been the overbearing NFL coach micromanaging a son’s career. Not so.
“The first time I met  Pat  I said  ‘By the way   Pat   this is probably the last time I’m gonna talk to you ” Gordon  now retired  said laughing. “He kinda laughed and I said  ‘I don’t talk to parents about football.’ And he said  ‘Great  I get it.’  Pat  was great about it. The only thing I ever got from  Pat  was a text that said  ‘Nice job’ or something on Saturday night. But he participated in the program like a lot of the parents did with the snack stand  Gatorade at halftime  stuff like that  and he came to a lot of the games  all the ones he could based on the (Eagles’) schedule. He’s a terrific person.”
Who  Pat Shurmur? No. No way Kyle learned that diligence from his dad who  as a sophomore offensive lineman and linebacker at Dearborn Divine Child (Mich.) in 1980  asked coach Wes Wishart to borrow the program’s lone projector to host weekly 16mm film study sessions at his house.
Like father  like son. And so like  Pat Shurmur  to have family at the center of one of  his  football stories.
 [TGT]makes it clear how much  [TGT]  family means to  [TGT]  as  [TGT]  meets the media for the first time as Giants head coach. (Howard Simmons/New York Daily News)
Friday morning  in fact  Shurmur teared up in his introductory press conference in East Rutherford as he looked at his wife  Jennifer  of 27-and-a-half years and called her “the strength of our family.” The couple  who met at Michigan State  have four children: Allyson and Erica  college graduates who live in Philadelphia; Kyle  Vanderbilt’s rising-senior starting quarterback; and Claire  a high school freshman in Minnesota  where  Pat  last worked.
But while  Pat  is the high-profile NFL head coach and the hard-nosed former Spartans center who laid waste to USC defensive linemen in the 1988 Rose Bowl  he is also the humble and human husband honorable enough to publicly recognize the woman who has been his rock the whole way:
“I didn’t know what G.O.A.T. meant until about a year ago  but that’s what Jennifer’s kids refer to her as: The G.O.A.T ” Gordon  still a family friend  said of the acronym for Greatest Of All Time more often used in NFL circles in reference to Tom Brady. “The Shurmurs are a great family. That’s what always comes through to people  and quite honestly  that’s probably what enables  Pat  to do what  he  does.”
Wishart says  Shurmur  came from a family with an admirable “work ethic” before  he  and Jennifer started their own.
 Pat Shurmur  is tasked with returning winning ways back to the Giants. (Howard Simmons/New York Daily News)
 Shurmur ’s late father  Joe  a star offensive guard and linebacker at Albion College (Mich.) in the late 1950s and early 60s  was an orthopedic surgeon in Dearborn  Mich.  and later served as the team doctor for  Pat ’s high school squad.
 Pat ’s uncle  the late Fritz Shurmur  actually coached his brother Joe at Albion before going on to a long accomplished NFL coaching career  including a Super Bowl XXXI victory as Mike Holmgren’s defensive coordinator in Green Bay.
But more simply  Joe and Barbara Shurmur raised their four children “to work hard and do things the right way ” Wishart says.  [TGT]on Friday lauded how  [TGT]  parents “taught us to compete; they taught us how to have compassion; and they taught us how not to let anybody tell you that you can’t do something.”
And when Wishart visited  Shurmur  in Cleveland for one of his Browns OTA practices during his two-year stint as head coach from 2011-12  he saw all of Joe and Barbara’s values and lessons on display on the field.
“He talked to every player  knew every player  had something positive to say about all of them  and he had 90-some guys on the roster ” Wishart recalled. “When he was a player  there was no better teammate. If a guy made a mistake   Pat  was the first to put arm around him and say hey it’s over with  forget about it. And that was it: if you have good relationships with people and players  you’ve got a team.
Carl Banks  55  the Giants’ two-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker and current radio analyst  was a stud Michigan State senior when  Shurmur  arrived in East Lansing as a freshman in 1983.  Shurmur  would split a season at linebacker and guard before starting three years at center and serving as a co-captain his senior year. What does Banks remember?
In 2013  when the Shurmurs relocated to Cinnaminson  N.J.  and  Kyle Shurmur  transferred to LaSalle   his  father could have been the overbearing NFL coach micromanaging a son’s career. Not so.
“The first time I met  Pat  I said  ‘By the way   Pat   this is probably the last time I’m gonna talk to you ” Gordon  now retired  said laughing. “He kinda laughed and I said  ‘I don’t talk to parents about football.’ And he said  ‘Great  I get it.’  Pat  was great about it. The only thing I ever got from  Pat  was a text that said  ‘Nice job’ or something on Saturday night. But he participated in the program like a lot of the parents did with the snack stand  Gatorade at halftime  stuff like that  and he came to a lot of the games  all the ones he could based on the (Eagles’) schedule. He’s a terrific person.”