Pat Shurmur is the front-runner to become the next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. They’ve been impressed, obviously, by the work he did as an offensive coordinator in Minnesota.

The Vikings lost Sam Bradford and Dalvin Cook to injuries yet still finished above-average in both rushing and passing. They were among the best at avoiding negative plays (sacks and interceptions) and finished 10th in scoring, helping the team win the NFC North.

Impressively, they did this despite having castoff Case Keenum (an afterthought in the offseason last year) handling the bulk of their quarterbacking.

An Arizona TV station has reported that Shurmur is the favorite to become the next coach of the Cardinals. He’d likely bring Keenum with him, probably to serve as a bridge quarterback (with the team using an early pick on a passer in the spring draft).

Shurmur, of course, has been a head coach before. He went only 9-23 in two years with the Browns. But that’s a tough place to win, and his experience there probably will help him going forward.

Numerous other coaches, after all, have done their best work after failing as head coaches with other teams.

In the last 20 years, for example, 14 head coaches have won Super Bowls. Eight of those coaches previously had been head coaches of other NFL teams, and six of those coaches had been fired. It happens all the time, with coaches coming back better than before.

With Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin winning multiple championships, 70 percent of the last 20 Super Bowl winning teams were directed by coaches who had previously been with other teams.

SUPER BOWL WINNING COACHES (last 20 years)
YearCoachTeamPrevious
1998Mike ShanahanDenverOakland
1999Mike ShanahanDenverOakland
2000Dick VermeilSt. LouisPhiladelphia
2001Brian BillickBaltimore
2002Bill BelichickNew EnglandCleveland
2003Jon GrudenTampa BayOakland
2004Bill BelichickNew EnglandCleveland
2005Bill BelichickNew EnglandCleveland
2006Bill CowherPittsburgh
2007Tony DungyIndianapolisTampa Bay
2008Tom CoughlinNY GiantsJacksonville
2009Mike TomlinPittsburgh
2010Sean PaytonNew Orleans
2011Mike McCarthyGreen Bay
2012Tom CoughlinNY GiantsJacksonville
2013John HarbaughBaltimore
2014Pete CarrollSeattleJets, Patriots
2015Bill BelichickNew EnglandCleveland
2016Gary KubiakDenverHouston
2017Bill BelichickNew EnglandCleveland

—Ian Allan