The New York Giants have a young head coach, but they don’t exactly have an unqualified one. Joe Judge took the helm in a move that surprised many, and had a lot of fans searching to find out just who this young former Patriots assistant actually is, and it’s hard to blame fans for that – while practically all of the names in the coaching search had experience as head coaches or as offensive or defensive coordinators, Judge comes in with a track record as neither one of those things.
But Judge does have a couple of things that likely played into the Giants hiring him despite coming from the background of a special teams coordinator rather than a head coach or an OC or DC. For one, Judge is from the coaching tree of not one but two of the most prestigious names in football, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. He’s earned praise from both of them, who believe he’s ready for a head coaching role, and that experience also brings lessons with it.
“I’d say the big picture things I’ve learned throughout these guys is first off, the work ethic has to start at the top, you’ve got to set the tone for the building. Those are two men that definitely did that when I worked with them and they set the tone for the staff under them,” Judge told MSG.
So far, Judge has gotten praise from multiple players and coaches who have worked with him, and one of the things praised has been his energy – which will likely help play a part in setting the tone, something that Pat Shurmur arguably failed at based on the team’s results as well as his public interactions.
“It’s about building a team, not collecting talent, so you want to make sure the players you bring in, you can unify under one voice, one vision and everyone’s playing toward the same goal,” Judge added.
The vision of the previous regime fell apart during the losing streak last season, which managed to wear on even the most positive of players and ended with whatever life the team had left seeming deflated from them.
We’ll see in 2020 if experience passed down from a couple of the top head coaches in the game helps Judge avoid the same thing, and helps in setting a more positive tone when the season starts.