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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Vikings’ Pat Shurmur a committed Catholic

Pat Shurmur seeks a purpose beyond getting the Minnesota Vikings offense back on track this season.

Pat Shurmur Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
Pat Shurmur
Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Shurmur, the new interim offensive coordinator, integrates his practice of the Catholic faith with football. He dedicates time to Catholic Athletes for Christ, a Virginia-based organization that seeks to promote the Gospel through sports.

An 18-year coaching veteran in the NFL, he has shared his experience with CAC as an athlete advisory board member and as a speaker. CAC does a variety of events and serves as a resource to dioceses across the country in addition to serving professional athletes.

According to Shurmur’s CAC website bio, “Pat loves his Catholic faith and is interested in sharing that faith through football.”

Secular media has acknowledged the coach’s faith too. When he took the head coaching position at Cleveland in 2011, Bill Lubinger of the Plain Dealer newspaper reported as such based on what friends and colleagues of Shurmur had to say.

“They describe a grounded overachiever, a doctor’s son raised in a traditional Catholic household in suburban Detroit,” Lubinger wrote.

Shurmur attended a Catholic high school, Divine Child, in Dearborn, Michigan. He went to Michigan State for college and had a standout career as a lineman for the Spartans football team in the 1980s.

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Shurmur also met his wife, Jennifer, at MSU. They have four children – Allyson, Erica, Claire and Kyle. Their son, Kyle, currently plays quarterback for Vanderbilt University.

Pat Shurmur joined the Vikings in January this year as the tight ends coach after a two-year stint in Philadelphia. He became the offensive coordinator on Nov. 2 when Norv Turner resigned.

Minnesota showed minor improvements in Shurmur’s debut Nov. 6, a 22-16 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. The Vikings (5-3) mustered 10 points in each of the previous two losses.

 

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