Report: Broncos' OC Pat Shurmur Not Pursuing Michigan State HC Job

On Monday we learned that the Michigan State Spartans have placed Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur on a shortlist of candidates to fill the school's head-coaching vacancy.

Michigan State is Shurmur's alma mater, as he played center there in the late 1980s and later served as a coaching intern before getting a permanent job with the school as an offensive and special teams coach where he would go on to spend nearly a decade. This pre-dated his NFL coaching experience, which now spans 21 years and includes four years as a head coach.

Naturally, Broncos fans have been anxious to find out whether Michigan State's interest in Shurmur is mutual but thanks to a report from The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala on Tuesday, it appears to be a case of unrequited football affection.

Per source, new Broncos OC Pat Shurmur was on Michigan State's radar for its head-coaching job, but he is not pursuing it and is fully focused on the Broncos. He's been entrenched in meetings with the rest of his offensive coaching staff here.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) February 11, 2020

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There have been rumors that Michigan State might be willing to double the salary Shurmur is getting as the Broncos' OC, which would ostensibly be hard to turn down. However, even if there's any veracity to that rumor, Shurmur would have to be interested in stepping down into the college ranks in order to capitalize.

As a guy who's been an NFL head coach twice (Cleveland/New York Giants), it's probably a safe bet that Shurmur still aspires to be a head man again. But going into the Big Ten to contend with the likes of Michigan and Ohio State on the recruiting trail is unlikely to be his shortest path back to being an NFL head coach.

Knocking it out of the park in Denver, and elevating Drew Lock and the Broncos' offense, would be the best way to rekindle the interest of owners across the NFL. However, based on what we've seen from Shurmur as a head coach (19-46 record), it's probable that he's one of these coaches better suited to being a coordinator than a head coach, similarly to Wade Phillips.

There's also the issue of the offset language Shurmur had in his contract with the Giants, which makes it doubtful that money will be his governing factor in accepting or declining the opportunity with Michigan State.

No, it sounds like Shurmur remains committed to his new job with the Broncos and won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Shurmur has a lot of work to do in Denver, starting with helping the team brass to decide on the fate of the Broncos' free agents on the offensive side of the ball.

Center Connor McGovern enters unrestricted free agency, so the Broncos have a decision to make there. There are also the matters of QB Joe Flacco's albatross of a contract and the team option on OG Ronald Leary's deal that need to be resolved. Shurmur's recommendations on both fronts are likely to carry some water with Vic Fangio and the front office.

Between those issues and getting all the new offensive assistants on the same page with the new scheme and the nomenclature that will accompany it, Shurmur's got a lot on his plate in Denver. Meanwhile, Michigan State is unlikely to take too long to decide on who will replace Mike Dantonio as the Spartans' new head football coach.

This storyline and its accompanying speculation will be in the rear-view before you know it. Shurmur isn't going anywhere.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.