Giants officially have named Judge their next head coach. He will replace Pat Shurmur.
The New York Giants were expected to play it safe with this move. They were supposed to pick a candidate with a resume strong enough to help restore peace of mind to the fans.
But if there’s anything we’ve learned about the Giants since the conclusion of their 4-12 season, it’s they’re predictably unpredictable.
It’s reasonable to conclude this is something the Giants have been for a long time now, especially in the front office. When you think the Giants are going one way they pivot and go left.
They just fired their head coach after just two seasons on the job. The general manager, responsible for hiring that head coach, still has his job but was put on notice to do better or else.
The head coach needed to go, his all-time win-loss record indicates he never should’ve been hired to begin with. And that, among other reasons, is why it felt as if the next logical move was for the general manager to be shown the door next.
However, much like other struggling sports teams in the New York City area, when all the arrows point towards the obvious, fans should instead expect everything except the obvious.
Meet Joe Judge, he’s everything except the obvious.
Judge is also the new head coach of the New York Football Giants.
Joe Judge… who?
If there’s a Giants’ fan out there who knew who Joe Judge was before this week, I’d love to meet them.
Because Judge wasn’t the name fans were expecting to read about. And if you’re like me, when his name showed up Monday afternoon while scrolling Twitter, it was like a blip on a radar screen. I thought nothing of it except the Giants just doing their due diligence before eventually hiring a name everyone has heard of.
But to think that way would mean I’m thinking logically. And when it comes to the Giants, thinking that way will only lead to headaches and potential ulcers.
That’s not to say the Giants didn’t have a plan already in place. They appeared to have a list of recognizable names to interview.
Mike McCarthy interviewed for the job. The former Green Bay Packers head coach has an attractive resume which includes a Super Bowl win. McCarthy also helped develop Aaron Rodgers into a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Two coordinators interviewed for the job, Eric Bieniemy and Don Martindale. Both candidates took a break from their schedules to interview. Because, well you know, they’re a little busy helping their respective teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, get ready for the playoffs.
For the readers that keep count, the Giants have not reached the playoffs since 2016. But, I digress.
There was also one more coordinator on the list, Josh McDaniels of the New England Patriots. And there was a college head coach on the calendar, Matt Rhule.
Pretty good list of names, right? So, what had happened was…
Rhule met with the Carolina Panthers one day before he was scheduled to talk with the Giants. The pitch, along with a seven-year contract the Giants would’ve been right to pass on, was good enough to become Carolina’s next head coach.
McCarthy never made it back for a second interview. He eventually flew to meet with the Dallas Cowboys. McCarthy met with Jerry Jones, spent the night, and never made it back to the plane.
Bieniemy? The Giants flew out to Kansas City to meet with him. He’s spent seven seasons with the Chiefs, the last two as Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator.
Reid calls the plays for Kansas City, but Bieniemy plays an integral part in the development of their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Reid has a tremendous amount of respect for Bieniemy.
“You guys know how I feel about Eric,” Reid told reporters. “I think he would be tremendous. I don’t know the team, but there is a team out there that could really use him. Being the leader of men that he is, you’re not going to find people better than that in that category. He’s a sharp offensive mind on top of that.”
Bieniemy, along with McCarthy, both have played integral roles in the development of successful starting quarterbacks. The Giants have a young quarterback, Daniel Jones, who could’ve benefited from some of that development.
And I have additional thoughts on Bieniemy, a black NFL assistant coach, and the league’s Rooney Rule which I’m saving for a future post.
Meanwhile, back to Joe Judge…
Where exactly does Joe Judge fit in here?
What was it about this 38-year old, special team’s coordinator and wide receivers’ coach, that convinced the New York Football Giants he’s the one?
He comes to the Giants highly recommended. Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick and Alabama head coach Nick Saban carry a great deal of stroke with their endorsements.
Aside from that, he clearly went into his meeting with the Giants and gave the interview of his life. He sold his vision to a desperate ownership group that needs to start winning football games again.
Joe Judge was good enough for the Giants to say no thanks to a second interview with McCarthy, Bieniemy, and Martindale. He was good enough to let Rhule take the Carolina job and pass on even talking with McDaniels.
If the Judge hire turns out to work, the Giants will be hailed for thinking outside of the box. They’ll be called gutsy and applauded for not doing what everyone predicted them to do, and that’s go the safe route with a more experienced coach.
And if Judge fails…
If the Judge hire doesn’t work, the Giants will be criticized and laughed at again for getting another one wrong. They’ll be looked at again as a team trying so hard to do the opposite of what everyone thinks they should do.
They’ll have no other choice but to acknowledge they’ve all failed, again. They’ll need to clean house of everyone and start from scratch.
Maybe they’ll get this one right. Maybe, Judge will be everything he sold the Giants on during his interview. This could be one prediction we’ll all look back on and acknowledge worked out.
That’s a lot of maybes for a team trying to convince everyone their way of doing things, as unpredictable as they are, will be worth the wait.
