Giants Hiring Patriots Assistant Joe Judge as New Head Coach

The New York Giants have their new head coach on Tuesday, and it’s an uncharacteristic, but welcome, choice.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Giants are finalizing a deal with New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge as their new head coach.

The news came just minutes after Baylor head coach Matt Rhule agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers to be their new sideline boss. Many viewed it as the Giants losing out on Rhule. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network revealed that Rhule called the Giants on Monday evening to match Carolina’s offer, but the Giants declined. That deal was later revealed to be a seven-year, $60 million contract, which doesn’t include the buyout the Panthers will have to pay Baylor.

New York met with Judge on Monday, and obviously impressed in their interview. So much so, that they actually laid down the groundwork for a contract.

Who is Joe Judge?

Judge, 38, has some impressive references on his resume. The first, obviously, is Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who hired Judge back in 2012 as a special teams assistant, before his promotion in 2014. The other, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who, like Belichick brought him on as an assistant on special teams.

In those stints, Judge has accumulated three Lombardi Trophies and two BCS National Championships. That’s nothing to scoff at.

And for those you are skeptical of a special teams coordinator being hired as an NFL head coach, I’d like to point you in the direction of John Harbaugh. The Baltimore Ravens hired Harbaugh in 2008 after serving ten seasons as Philadelphia Eagles coordinator, and he worked out pretty well for Baltimore.

Giants Rise for Joe Judge

The Giants expanded their coaching search this year as opposed to the one in 2018, which ended with the team hiring Pat Shurmur. A 9-23 record in two years resulted in Shurmur being shown the door and his key card deactivated at the Giants facility. Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch needed to bolster their candidate list and change up their archaic ways of running a football organization.

Joe Judge stood out amongst the pack and gave Matt Rhule competition for the gig.

As for Judge’s coaching staff, ESPN’s Ed Werder reports the team requested permission to interview ex-Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett for the offensive coordinator position. Head coaching didn’t suit Garrett, but coordinating did. Garrett made the Cowboys an offensive powerhouse on an annual basis, while developing quarterback Dak Prescott. Garrett could potentially do the same with Daniel Jones, only if he accepts the job.

The New York Giants needed to go against the norm to pick their head coach. They absolutely did that with Joe Judge, the 21st head coach in Giants franchise history.