It’s safe to say that most of the NFL would like to imitate the New England Patriots – that’s because the Patriots have been one of the most successful teams over the past couple of decades, and there’s plenty of New York Giants fans who would be willing to take talent from their rival in Boston if it meant the Giants could have a bit of the same.
This isn’t an article about Bill Belichick coming to the Giants, however. It’s about two members of his staff, Josh McDaniels and Joe Judge. McDaniels, as the offensive coordinator behind much of the Patriots’ success, is of course the more notable of the two when compared to Judge, the Patriots’ wide receivers and special teams coach.
According to the Boston Globe, the Patriots have approved requests for the Giants to speak to both coaches.
According to a league source, the Giants have been granted permission to speak with McDaniels, the Patriots offensive coordinator, and Judge, the club’s special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach, about their head coaching vacancy.
That doesn’t mean that McDaniels to the Patriots is the most likely outcome, however. McDaniels was announced last year as the coach of the Indianapolis Colts but ended up showing more commitment to the Patriots and making the decision to stay instead of leaving. Presumably, there was something enticing McDaniels to make that choice, such as the prospect of taking over when Belichick eventually retires.
It would likely take a lot from the Giants to convince McDaniels to give his current position in New England up, which is why it seems like one of the more unlikely moves, but with some unrest in New England right now it doesn’t seem impossible that McDaniels might finally leave for the second time.
At the least, it’s a positive for the Giants that such options are being investigated – going into a coaching search with not enough good candidates on the market resulted in the Giants ending up with Pat Shurmur last time, after all.