The New York Giants have reportedly found the team’s new head coach, hiring an unfamiliar name in Joe Judge. So, who is this guy?
Matt Rhule was taken off the head coaching market this morning, signing a long-term with the Carolina Panthers. Two more NFC East teams nabbed top candidates with Ron Rivera in Washington D.C. and Mike McCarthy in Dallas.
This left little in options for the New York Giants. So, who did they choose? Joe Judge, formerly the wide receiver and special teams coach of the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.
Interesting choice, to say the least. Such an unfamiliar face getting one of the more premiere coaching jobs in the NFL has raised many questions. None more perplexing than simply “who is Joe Judge?’”.
Judge is from Philadelphia. He played college football at Mississippi State from 2000-04.
Post playing, Judge has been a coach since 2005. He has spent time at Mississippi State as a graduate assistant (2005-2007), Birmingham-Southern (2008), and under Nick Saban at Alabama (2009-2011).
The 38-year-old was a football analyst and special teams assistant under Saban, where he coached on a staff that won two National Championships in 2009 and ’11.
Judge then joined the Patriots and Belichick in ’12, winning three Super Bowls. This year marked his first season as the special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach. Prior to that, he worked primarily as a special teams assistant and coach.
Of course, special teams success is hard to determine. But, the Patriots often times had very strong play from this unit, which indicates Judge was doing a strong job with that aspect.
This hiring is a definite surprise. The Giants had been weighing many other options, but they simply didn’t seem to act swiftly enough.
But, even with the surprise hire of Judge, that is not to say this is not a good hire. Judge has done his job to stick on coaching staffs under legendary coaches like Saban and Belichick. That is saying something.
Now we wait and see. Can Judge be the savior of a once top-flight team in the country’s largest market? Only time will tell.