After going 9-23, the New York Giants got rid of Pat Shurmur, the Head Coach of the team from 2018 to 2019. While this offseason resulted in many coaches losing their jobs like Shurmur, there was a competitive hunt for the best new candidates to coach an NFL team. While some went with well-known names such as the Washington Football Team signing Ron Rivera and the Dallas Cowboys obtaining Mike McCarthy, the Giants decided to go with a man many new little about: Joe Judge.
Joe Judge coached for the New England Patriots for the past eight years, most recently as both the Wide Receiver Coach and Special Teams Coordinator. Working under arguably the best football coach of all-time, Bill Belichick, he was able to contribute to a team that won the Super Bowl three times during his time there. Before that, Judge coached at Alabama University as a Special Teams Coach and as an analyst. While working under arguably the best college football coach of all-time, Nick Saban, Judge won two College Football National Championships in just three years at Bama. With great reputations coming from the prestigious pair of Belichick and Saban, it could be estimated that he could be legit.
As training camp has began with the start of this “regular” season approaching, players and media have gotten a taste of what Joe Judge is about. Based on what has been said so far, it seems that Judge has complete control over his players and possibly more importantly, his coaching staff. Perhaps the most interesting thing Judge has done is to implement a system in which not only players run laps for mistakes, but coaches also. While conditioning may anger coaches since there are merely no physical requirements for the job, it sure is a method of making sure everybody is on their sharpest and best game. It has also been said that Judge is a very physical coach, as one can most likely tell by his methods. This drive may help to light a fire under the team, one that seems to not have been present in the past few years.
While Joe Judge was somewhat of a risk for the Giants to trust their future in, it seems like there was high reward. Players including Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones seem to approve of his system, which is always a good thing. Don’t be surprised if the Giants make a surprise playoff appearance! After all, anything can happen in 2020.
Photo: SNY
