He may not be as well-known as New England’s Josh McDaniels, but Minnesota’s Kevin Stefanski is the guy the New York Giants want as offensive coordinator.
Kevin Stefanski is Pat Shurmur‘s top choice to take over as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, sources tell Alex Marvez of the Sporting News.
Source tells @sportingnews that Kevin Stefanski will be either @vikings or @giants offensive coordinator. Details here https://t.co/4WMz9aBgEK
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) February 8, 2018
Stefanski, 35, has spent the past 12 years filling various roles on Minnesota’s coaching staff, most recently serving as their quarterbacks coach in 2017. He, along with Shurmur, turned Case Keenum from a career journeyman into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks last season.
One major hurdle—Minnesota promoting him to replace Shurmur as the team’s offensive coordinator—has been cleared, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that the Vikings have decided to hire Philadelphia’s quarterbacks coach, John DeFilippo, to take over as the team’s playcaller.
Vikings are hiring former Eagles’ QB coach John DeFilippo as their OC, per source.
Super Bowl brain drain underway in Philadelphia.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 9, 2018
The Giants have yet to request an interview for Stefanski, who has one year left on his deal with the Vikings, according to SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan, but it’s hard to envision Minnesota refusing such a request after passing him over to replace Shurmur.
DeFilippo gets a two-year deal with #Vikings. They have not received a request yet from the #Giants to interview QBs coach Kevin Stefanski, who has 1 season left on his deal. But as @alexmarvez said, they want to hire him as OC.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) February 9, 2018
Shurmur, who intends on calling his own plays with the Giants, may be looking at Stefanski in a dual role: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, hears SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano.
Heading into the playoffs, Keenum has nothing but praise for the Shurmur/Stefanski duo.
“They have been great. This whole coaching staff has been absolutely tremendous,” he told the StarTribune‘s Sid Hartman. “I really enjoy working every day with Kevin Stefanski, and Pat does a great job of installing offenses and calling plays. They both do a great job of communicating what they want from me.”
While Eli Manning doesn’t need much coaching at this point in his Hall of Fame career, that endorsement bodes well for the development of 2017 third-round pick Davis Webb and any quarterback the Giants may choose to select in the 2018 NFL Draft.
