Execution, preparation, focus. Those are three words that New York Giants head coach Joe judge is bringing to life. When co-owner John Mara elected to name Judge the next head coach of the Giants, they knew they were getting a highly dedicated person with an innate attention to detail.
This is Judge’s first spell as a head coach in the NFL, and he sure looks the part. Taking on an old-school approach, similar to general manager Dave Gettleman, Judge is keen on disciplining his players and holding them accountable for their mistakes. Of course, the talk of the town is his consequential laps that are meant to punish players for the lack of preparation and fundamentals.
The New York Giants are taking preparation to another level:
Winning on the football field is not easy in the NFL, and the Giants simply haven’t done enough in recent years to get where they want to be. Neither Ben McAdoo nor Pat Shurmur had the mentality to demand respect from their players and put a quality product on the field.
Judge is changing things entirely, specifically when it comes to his coaching staff and how he operates around his players. He has no filter, dropping F-bombs and increasing the intensity with every passing drill. The major difference between former coaches and Judge is his demanding of perfection.
The coaches are teaching techniques, utilizing large sample sizes of reps to refine fundamentals. Taking names off the back of the players’ jerseys makes them more accountable, taking the favorability away from veterans and stars. Everything the Giants do is prepared and planned in accordance with COVID-19 protocols and Joe Judge’s expectations.
Judge made it known that everything they do has a purpose, and the players are buying in slowly but surely. Without a preseason to utilize, jamming in padded practices and physical reps are extremely difficult. The product on the football field for every team might be lower than usual, but Joe is doing everything he can to maximize the time he does have.
“We have a lot of moving parts, but our players understand that there’s a purpose in everything we’re doing,” Judge said. “We’re trying to make sure everybody maximizes the time on the field, maximizes our reps, and gives us a chance to evaluate everybody, and for them to improve on their individual techniques.”