Report: Pat Shurmur the favorite to be the Cardinals’ next head coach

The current Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator has recently been a target by many NFL teams in search of a new head coach.

Case Keenum may get a bunch of the praise, but the man behind the success of the Minnesota Vikings’ offense in 2017 has definitely been Pat Shurmur. The Vikings’ offensive coordinator has dealt with a number of big-time injuries to his personnel this season and has still been able to keep the team’s offense on track.

In his first full year as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator, the team’s offense finished the 2017 regular season ranked 10th in the NFL in scoring, 11th in passing, seventh in rushing, and third in 3rd down conversion percentage.

A team’s impressive season normally results in several of the organization’s assistant coaches emerging as candidates for some of the open head coaching jobs around the league and it has been no different with the Vikings this year. Shurmur and Minnesota defensive coordinator George Edwards have each interviewed for a few of the head coaching vacancies around the NFL recently.

Despite some of the openings being filled this week, the Vikings’ offensive coordinator is reportedly still the favorite to land a job as a head coach for at least one team.

The report states that part of what intrigues the Arizona Cardinals about Shurmur is the possibility of him being able to bring Keenum along with him.

That seems like an odd reason to hire someone as a head coach. Especially considering that the Cardinals may have a hard time getting the quarterback to leave Minnesota if he helps lead the Vikings to their first ever Super Bowl win this year.

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For now, Shurmur and Keenum are staying put in Minnesota. But once the season ends, at least one of them could be leaving the bitter cold of the north for the desert heat during the offseason.