The coaching search floodgates have burst open as we now have our second hiring of the day. After missing out on Baylor’s (now Carolina’s) Matt Rhule, the New York Giants quickly moved on and picked New England Patriots special teams and wide receivers coach, Joe Judge, to be their next head coach according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
New York Giants are finalizing a deal to make Patriots’ wide receivers coach Joe Judge their next head coach, league sources tell ESPN. Deal was in the works as of last night, which is another reason Matt Rhule took the Panthers’ HC job.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 7, 2020
Judge was in high-demand this offseason as his alma mater, Mississippi State also offered him their head coach position according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport but he ultimately decided to take the Giants job:
Joe Judge has an offer to become the new coach at Mississippi State, his alma matter. He takes the Giants instead. https://t.co/sx1Xk0Bzj6
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2020
Many wondered if the Patriots’ AFC Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans would be the end of the dynasty. While names like Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels were spoken of as potential defections from the franchise, Judge becomes the first member to leave New England.
Rapoport also mentions that Bill Belichick was a big fan of Judge and saw him as a future head coach:
#Patriots coach Bill Belichick knew early on Joe Judge was head-coach material, meeting with him on a regular basis to go over program-building and what it takes to become a head coach. Now, he’s the #Giants coach.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2020
As a first-time head coach, the rest of his staff will be critical and according to ESPN’s Ed Werder, the team has requested permission from the Dallas Cowboys to interview Jason Garrett as a potential offensive coordinator:
Source: #Giants requested permission from #Cowboys to interview Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator under new HC Joe Judge. Garrett’s 10 years of head coaching experience would be important asset to inexperienced HC. Also Garrett could develop Daniel Jones if interested.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 7, 2020
Awaiting Judge—besides a bunch of court-themed headlines and puns—is a team that has some talent (Saquon Barkley mainly) but is ultimately in the middle of a rebuild. New York has the number four pick in April’s 2020 NFL Draft, and since the team retained Dave Gettleman as its general manager it is unlikely that they will be looking for a quarterback after taking Daniel Jones last year.
Prior to joining the Patriots, Judge was also a special teams assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban from 2009 to 2011. The common belief in coaching circles is that the special teams coach is the member of the staff who operates most similarly to a head coach. John Harbaugh’s run with the Baltimore Ravens is one example of a special teams-to-head coach success story and the Giants are hoping that Judge will be another.
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