Giants head coach Pat Shurmur shown door after 4-win season

Co-owner Steve Tisch is looking to take a greater role in the daily operations of the New York Giants as the organization begins a third coaching search in four years and faces criticism for retaining the general manager who hired the last coach.

The Giants once again put themselves in the post-season spotlight for off-the-field reasons when they fired coach Pat Shurmur on Monday and elected to keep general manager Dave Gettleman despite the two combining for nine wins the past two seasons.

Co-owner John Mara said it was a gut instinct to fire Shurmur after the Giants (4-12) lost their regular-season finale to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Mara added the decision to keep the 68-year-old Gettleman was based on giving him the chance to finish a major overall of the roster, the scouting system and increased use of analytics while spending his first year on the job fighting cancer.

Gettleman has been criticized for some questionable trades (Odell Beckham Jr. and Leonard Williams) and his hit-and-miss free agent signings, led by tackle Nate Solder, who has been inconsistent.

"He does know his batting average has to increase going forward," Mara said in putting Gettleman on the spot for next season.

3 years left on deal

Mara, Tisch and Gettleman met with Shurmur on Monday morning and informed him he was being let go with three years left on his contract. Mara and Tisch said they have been talking about the coaching situation for weeks and were in agreement of the need to change. Mara felt there were games the team could have won this season and didn't.

Mara added there is no denying the team made the wrong choices in hiring Ben McAdoo in 2016 and Shurmur in 2018.

I will become more involved moving forward in 2020.— Giants co-owner Steve Tisch after team fires head coach Pat Shurmur

"I think there are some very attractive candidates out there who will have interest in this job and I think we will get it right this time," Mara said of the next coach, adding he wants a leader.

Tisch, who has been somewhat of the silent co-owner working on the West Coast, plans to be more active after too many frustrating seasons.

"I am involved and I would like to be more involved. I will become more involved moving forward in 2020," said Tisch, adding the two men have a good working relationship and always reach an agreement after sharing their different opinions.

Both felt it was in the best interest to fire Shurmur and keep Gettleman. They also shared the responsibility for the team having 12 wins over the last three seasons.

Salary cap room for free agents, picks

The four-time Super Bowl champions have missed the playoffs seven times in eight years.

Mara and Tisch believe Gettleman has assembled a good nucleus of young players led by halfback Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones, and updated several layers of the organization.

"We believe it would be a mistake the pull the plug on that after two years, particularly when you consider Dave spent the a major part of the first year fighting for his life," Mara said.

Shurmur had refused to speculate about his future after the game. He felt the franchise, which dates to 1925, was in better shape than when he took over in January 2018. He noted the organization now has salary cap room for free agency and draft picks, including the No. 4 overall selection in 2020.

The Giants' wins this past season were not impressive. They beat Washington (3-13) twice, Miami (5-11) and Tampa Bay (7-9).

"It's been a very frustrating four years, certainly the record indicates that, those numbers don't lie," Tisch said. "Going forward, John and I want to make sure that those numbers change in the next season dramatically."

'Coach believed in all of us'

Shurmur came to the Giants after a successful stint as the offensive co-ordinator with the Minnesota Vikings, where he turned Case Keenum from an average player into a star for a year. It was hoped he would revive Eli Manning's fortunes but it never happened. The two-time Super Bowl MVP was reduced to a backup role when Jones, the No. 6 pick overall in the 2019 draft, was made the starter in Week 3 this season.

Jones was disappointed by the firing.

"Coach believed in all of us, and it's disappointing," Jones said. "I'm grateful to him for the opportunity."

Manning, in the final year of his contract, also felt for Shurmur. He said the two had a great relationship and described the 54-year-old coach as a wonderful man.

Manning said he will decide his future down the road and is considering all his options, including retirement. He said it was doubtful he would return to the Giants in a backup role.

Shurmur's chances of success were hurt by a bad defence that was constantly making mistakes in the 3-4 front installed by co-ordinator James Bettcher.

3rd coaching change since 2015

His other major problem was fielding a young team that made too many mistakes.

This was Shurmur's second head coaching job. He went 9-23 in two seasons with the Browns, the same record he had with the Giants.

His firing is the Giants' third coaching change since Tom Coughlin was let go after the 2015 season. McAdoo and Shurmur have failed to get the job done.

Whoever gets the job will need to develop Jones and be able to fix the defence.

Former Packers coach Mike McCarthy is expected to be a candidate, along Baylor coach Matt Ruhle, a former Giants assistant, and Patriots offensive co-ordinator Josh McDaniels. Former Dallas coach Jason Garrett, another former Giant, might draw interest.

As we reevaluate our team leadership, culture and process for winning football games, I am excited for the opportunities that lie ahead ...— Redskins owner Daniel Snyder after firing of team president Bruce Allen

Bruce Allen was mocked five years ago when he proclaimed that his perennially last-place Washington Redskins were "winning off the field." More eye rolls arrived more recently when Allen defended the club's "culture."

Washington 62-97-1 under Allen

After a lot of losing on the field and all manner of public-relations disasters off it, Allen is out as president of the NFL team once coached by his father. He was fired Monday, a move announced by owner Daniel Snyder a day after a 3-13 disaster of a season was capped by one last embarrassing loss, 47-16 at rival Dallas.

From the outset of the 2010 season, the Redskins went 62-97-1 with Allen serving as Snyder's right-hand man, a stretch that featured only two playoff appearances and zero playoff victories.

"As this season concludes, Bruce Allen has been relieved of his duties as president of the Washington Redskins and is no longer with the organization," Snyder said in a statement issued by the team. "Like our passionate fan base, I recognize we have not lived up to the high standards set by great Redskins teams, coaches and players who have come before us.

"As we reevaluate our team leadership, culture and process for winning football games, I am excited for the opportunities that lie ahead to renew our singular focus and purpose of bringing championship football back to Washington."

There could be another important move soon, too: Ron Rivera, fired as coach of the Carolina Panthers during the season, was visiting the Redskins on Monday.

Allen was hired as Washington's executive VP and general manager in December 2009, then promoted to president in May 2014.

Coach Gruden fired early in season

Only once in Allen's tumultuous tenure did Washington even manage to win as many 10 games and it finished at the bottom of the NFC East five times.

Just one team in the 32-club NFL had a worse record this season, and the Redskins own the No. 2 pick in the next draft.

Jay Gruden, who was given a contract extension by Allen, was fired after an 0-5 start to this season, his sixth — the longest stint for a head coach under Snyder — and replaced by offensive line coach Bill Callahan on an interim basis.

So the always-in-disarray Redskins are now in need of a president, a general manager and a coach; whoever is hired to those jobs will need to oversee a massive rebuilding project.

That includes fixing the roster and a reputation that has alienated fans to the point that the team's home stadium often had thousands of empty seats and plenty of spectators cheering for the opponent.

Off-the-field issues

For all of the Redskins' poor game results during Snyder's 20 years as owner — never once managing to win 11 games in a season in that span — it was Allen who infamously tried to downplay the importance of the losing by boasting at a news conference after the 2014 season that the team's charitable foundation "does a fantastic job," which meant, he said, "We're winning off the field."

It was also during that occasionally contentious session with reporters that Allen declared he would do anything to help the team win more games, vowing: "If it meant mowing that lawn out there every Tuesday, I would mow the lawn every darn Tuesday."

During another rare appearance to take questions from the media, at the news conference to announce Gruden's dismissal in October, Allen objected to questions about widespread criticism of the way things are run at Redskins Park by asserting: "The culture is actually damn good."

Under Allen's watch, the issues away from the field included:

• This season's holdout by Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, whom Allen refused to trade;
• The messy firing of GM Scot McCloughan;
• The acknowledgment that the team's seemingly endless home sellout streak was over, followed by the house-cleaning after last season of new executives in charge of business matters;
• The costly trade for, and ugly divorce from, Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III;
• The mostly unsuccessful coaching stint of, and ugly divorce from, costly coach Mike Shahanan;
• The tens of millions of dollars given to Kirk Cousins (or, as Allen repeatedly called him, for some reason, "Kurt") as the league's first QB to play under the franchise tag more than once; eventually, he was allowed to leave as a free agent, with the Redskins receiving nothing in return;

Allen previously worked as a front-office executive for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders.

He is the son of late Pro Football Hall of Fame member George Allen, who led the Redskins to one Super Bowl appearance while coaching them from 1971-77. Allen's brother, George, is a former Virginia governor and U.S. senator.

Cowboys won't retain Jason Garrett: report

Jason Garrett will not receive a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys, 105.3 The Fan in Dallas reported early Monday.

Owner Jerry Jones implied he was ready to make a change following the Cowboys' Week 16 loss to the Eagles that shifted control of the NFC East from Dallas to Philadelphia and continued that narrative on Monday. Jones told The Fan he would use his past experiences hiring coaches to guide his decision this time around.

"You just are a product of everything when you ultimately make a decision," Jones said. "I did it to begin with when I initially chose a coach. I'll use the same type of logic. I'll use all the experiences I've had for that kind of input."

Garrett told the station he is scheduled to meet with Jerry and Stephen Jones following a team meeting.

The Cowboys finished 8-8 in 2019, and Jones said Monday he anticipates making a change.

While he wouldn't technically need to fire Garrett — his contract expires Jan. 14 — Jones had previously been hesitant to make a change at the top. Terminating their partnership could mean a big name and big personality coming to the Cowboys with reports indicating Jones has high interest in Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley and former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Garrett, 53, spent more than nine seasons as head coach. He took over midway through the 2010 season and went 85-67.