The list is long, and detailed. Pat Shurmur was a first-time head coach when he got the job in Cleveland in 2011. He lasted two years with the Browns, winning a total of nine games for a franchise in flux, and left that experience knowing he would do many things differently if he got a second chance to be a head coach.

One of the lessons he learned: Do not be your own offensive coordinator.

“I didn’t have one [my first season] in Cleveland,’’ Shurmur said, “and so, that’s not the right way to go. You need a coordinator.’’

When he was hired by the Giants, Shurmur knew he would hire someone to help run his offense, though he also knew he would be his own play-caller. When the Vikings did not grant Shurmur permission to interview their quarterbacks coach, Kevin Stefanski, for the job, Shurmur pivoted to Mike Shula, a longtime NFL assistant — and a former head coach at Alabama — who spent the past seven years in Carolina, the last five running the Panthers’ offense.

“That was one of the things that I did that I would do differently the second time around, is make sure I had the full structure of my staff in place,” Shurmur said. “Mike is an outstanding coordinator, called plays in a Super Bowl. We’re very fortunate that he was available. There’s a lot of things similar about the way we ran our system that made it a good mix for us, and I think the Giants should be happy that he’s here.’’

Coordinators do their work either on the field or up in the press box. Shurmur wants Shula — who doubles as the quarterbacks coach — alongside him, down on the sideline, and that is where Shula will be stationed for Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Browns and where he will be on into the regular season.

“Mike is going to be on the field, because Mike also talks to the quarterbacks and he’s used to being on the field and being able to advise,” Shurmur said. “I’m going to have plenty of experienced guys in the press box to see what we need to see up there.”

The importance of the coordinator is usually linked with the expertise of the head coach. Shurmur’s extensive résumé is exclusively on offense and thus his defensive coordinator, James Bettcher, has autonomy on his side of the ball. Shula’s chief responsibilities are to work with the quarterbacks, help set up the game plan each week and aid Shurmur with the play-calling on game days. For example, Shurmur will anticipate what is going on during an offensive series and ask Shula to have a few third-and-short plays ready for advisement. Shurmur will make the call after receiving input from Shula.

Shula with the Panthers helped develop Cam Newton into a Pro Bowl quarterback. Shula had no previous experience working with Eli Manning, Davis Webb or rookie Kyle Lauletta. Through the spring and summer, relationships were forged and impressions were made.

Shula on Manning’s lack of mobility within Shurmur’s offense: “Was Dan Marino mobile enough to extend plays? I think he was. The first thing that comes to my mind when you ask that is, you’ll see those guys — Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip [Rivers] — they just navigate that pocket just enough to extend the play where it’s going to allow a receiver to get open. Whether it’s in the pocket late in the down or once you get outside, I think he knows what he can do and what he can’t do once he is outside of the pocket.’’

Shula on Webb’s development: “Davis has done a nice job, we’ve talked about him in our staff meetings. He’s like a lot of guys, striving for consistency. When you watch practice, you see big plays by him or on the other side you see interceptions and it’s like one extreme or the other, but there’s a lot of things that he’s done since Day 1 of the OTAs where he’s working and has gotten the negative plays minimized. He’s still got some work to do there, but he’s more consistent in making sound decisions.’’

Shurmur on what he’s seen from Lauletta’s arm strength, which was at times criticized during the draft process: “He might not have a cannon but he’s accurate and gets the ball there on time. There’s a little bit of a difference with a guy being able to throw it 75 yards or a guy having good arm strength on all of the intermediate levels. Even some of the deeper throws, he’s probably completed as many deep balls as anyone has at this camp so far. If someone would have asked you that, you may have said, ‘No, he’d be the last guy I’d think of for that.’ ’’